SEATTLE STORM GRAPHIC DESIGN, BRANDING, VIDEO PRODUCTION
Designing for the WNBA Seattle Storm
I grew up playing basketball – dreaming of one day getting to wear green and yellow and play in the Key Arena. Well, that dream came true... sort of. Combining my love for sports and passion for design, I spent two seasons as a graphic designer for the WNBA Champion Seattle Storm. As a young designer, this was an amazing opportunity to get involved in a wide range of projects from leading brand campaigns to production design to creating custom swag. Most importantly, it showed me firsthand the impact design could have on a brand.
Creating a Campaign
One of my favorite projects while working at the Storm was pitching a concept for our 2013 ticket sales brand campaign. Working within an established style guide and logo, I instead focused on the emotions our design could evoke. The campaign took our basketball-centric point of view and flipped the script. Instead of the on-court action, it was my goal to showcase all the great things the Storm team did beyond basketball.
What did it feel like for the little boys and girls who got to be a part of the action in the pre-game? What was it like for all the families to spend a night together watching basketball? What were the athletes like off the court? What was the energy like in the Key Arena during a big matchup? By focusing on everything else we were able to connect with our fans on a new level that reached far beyond basketball.
Swag & Apparel
My role as a graphic designer allowed me to be creative and dream big. We worked hard to build a brand that connected with our fans. Design played a key role in engaging and igniting the passions of our fans and worked hard to create visuals that celebrated the fans, the team, and the organization.
Over my two years at the Storm, I got to collaborate across every area of the company. It was truly an amazing experience that helped me grow as a designer. I created custom apparel worn by thousands of fans, official team posters, season tickets, merchandise, digital ads, pitch decks, sales collateral, identity design, and even worked in the broadcast booth on game days controlling the graphics in the arena and for all the televised games.
Lessons Learned
BE A TEAM PLAYER
As a young designer, the Seattle Storm offered me an amazing opportunity to get involved in countless areas of design. It was a small scrappy team, but it allowed me to collaborate across all areas of the business and grow as a professional and as a designer.
GET INVOLVED
My willingness to get involved with the Storm organization beyond design was a thrill. Opportunities to lead and take on new work included art directing team photoshoots, helping brand the Storm Foundation, and running the in-game graphics for Key Arena and nationally televised games.
© 2021 Matt Knorr. All Rights Reserved.