BY Armin

All Horns Blazing

Something I did not expect to see smack in the middle of July — specially when no one is paying any attention to professional basketball, specially after such boring finals — was an unveiling of the 2008 NBA All-Star game logo [bigger view here], to be played in New Orleans a good eight months from now. Even after the devastating effects that the city went through, it is still one of the nation’s most flavorful, with its music roots keeping it afloat and its unique architecture and texture shining through. The All-Star logo — in all of its polished professionalism, typical sports semi-dimensionality and inevitable, expected, city-centric visual cues — manages to convey some personality and add a little spice to the anticlimactic, über family friendly affair that the All-Star game has turned into. The “All-Star” custom typography is quite smooth and has a nice vintage smell to it, nicely complemented by the iron work line art “growing” from the basketball at the bottom. The trumpets (or “brass instruments” as specified in the press release) are not necessarily my cup of tea, but they do add nice tension to the circular logo. The “2008” text is by far the least resolved with way too much letterspacing and, based on the “New Orleans” text in the upper ribbon, what looks like some horizontal scaling, but I want to think it’s the extended version of the typeface. Overall — and in contrast with some past All-Star logos, specifically The Chili Years from 1994 to 1996 — the New Orleans logo stands out nicely and, most beneficial for the city, proudly.

Thanks to Jason Smith for the tip.

\n\nSomething I did not expect to see smack in the middle of July — specially when no one is paying any attention to professional basketball, specially after such boring finals — was an unveiling of the 2008 NBA All-Star game logo [bigger view here], to be played in New Orleans a good eight months from now. Even after the devastating effects that the city went through, it is still one of the nation's most flavorful, with its music roots keeping it afloat and its unique architecture and texture shining through. The All-Star logo — in all of its polished professionalism, typical sports semi-dimensionality and inevitable, expected, city-centric visual cues — manages to convey some personality and add a little spice to the anticlimactic, über family friendly affair that the All-Star game has turned into. The \"All-Star\" custom typography is quite smooth and has a nice vintage smell to it, nicely complemented by the iron work line art \"growing\" from the basketball at the bottom. The trumpets (or \"brass instruments\" as specified in the press release) are not necessarily my cup of tea, but they do add nice tension to the circular logo. The \"2008\" text is by far the least resolved with way too much letterspacing and, based on the \"New Orleans\" text in the upper ribbon, what looks like some horizontal scaling, but I want to think it's the extended version of the typeface. Overall — and in contrast with some past All-Star logos, specifically The Chili Years from 1994 to 1996 — the New Orleans logo stands out nicely and, most beneficial for the city, proudly.\n\nThanks to Jason Smith for the tip.

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