everydream

• Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Logo Development 

  
  

  
  Opening for the Major League Baseball 2011 Spring Training Season, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick will be the most immersive and forward thinking baseball fan experience in the world. It will be the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, but also be an economic platform for the Salt River Pima – Maricopa Indian Community (SRP-MIC).
  

  
  From the press release:
  

  “We wanted to reinvent the fan experience of spring training by designing a distinctive destination that focuses on fan connectivity to the players while creating a unique environment that embodies the character, values and culture of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks,” said Byron Chambers, director of sports design, HKS Sports & Entertainment Group.

  Opening in February, 2011, Salt River Fields is located on a 140-acre site near the Pima-Loop 101 Freeway and Indian Bend Road. Salt River Fields is the first Major League Baseball Spring Training facility built on Native American land. Owned by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC), the complex consists of separate training facilities and clubhouses accommodating each team as well as an 11,000-seat central stadium which features a uniquely designed roof structure that offers fans in the cross aisle plenty of shade.

  “Our Pima ancestors, the Huhugam, used posts hewn from mesquite trees, with willow and arrowweed branches to build large ramadas that created shade from the hot desert sun,” said SRPMIC President Diane Enos. “These shade structures were important centers for daily life, like cooking, weaving or visiting. Today, we are taking this ramada to new heights at Salt River Fields with the soaring roof structure that will shade our new stadium.”

  
  I have had the opportunity to be lead designer and creative director on the identity, signage, environmental graphics, interpretive graphics, concession branding, and more. It has been a very challenging project. We had to balance the brands of two very distinct teams, The Diamondbacks and the Rockies, and, just as important, tell the story of the SRP-MIC in an engaging way.
  

  
  
  As you can see from the diagram above we wanted to establish a “look” throughout the facility with ALL of the graphics. You might regard this as creating a “brand” – that is incorrect – we are creating a ‘visual identity’ that ultimately will be connected to an experience that will create a brand. We wanted this ‘visual identity’ to move through all applications of graphics; advertising, signage, tickets, letterhead and more.
  
  

  
  Prior to our involvement the community created an aspiration line for the facility – “Two Tribes, Two Teams, One Home.” The idea behind “Two Tribes, Two Teams, One Home” really hit it on the head for us. We knew we had to find a way to create an icon for this facility that took the identity to another level that has not been seen in Spring Training Facilities. (Spring Training Facilities are fast becoming an economic engine and baseball destination especially in the Phoenix area – where there are will be 10 separate venues next year.)
  

  
  Above are all three logos of those involved in the facility. The Rockies have not had a logo change since they became part of the league in 1993. The Diamondbacks re-branded themselves in 2007. The third icon was developed by local Pima artist and calendar stick carver Royce Manuel and speaks about the mountains and the rattlesnake in SRP-MIC history. The Calendar Stick symbols are very important to the Community. These symbols help tell the history and stories of the tribe and families. The symbol created by Mr. Manuel symbolized Salt River Fields in the community timeline.
  

  
  The challenges in creating the icon were:

• -Creating an icon that represented the community.
• -Creating an icon that represented the Colorado Rockies
• -Creating an icon that represented the Arizona Diamondbacks
• -Creating an icon that could stand on its own to represent the project


We toiled over the icon for several months. Going back and forth about what would be best for the facility. Then on a late Friday night around 2:30AM the idea popped into my mind after viewing a set of sketches I made earlier in the night. And I began dissecting each individual element.







The solution, though simple, has many layers. It speaks about heritage. It speaks of team. It speaks of partnership. It symbolizes the essence of the project quickly. It delivers the solution to our four main challenges above.







The final rendering above utilizes the prominent colors of the teams and one selected by the SRP-MIC.



Obviously a lot more conversations with the ownership went on before and after the initial grand idea. I can tell you we had 4 prior meetings about the logo with other concepts that were shot down. But, when we rally around the project, explain the design process, and LISTEN to the client, the end product is always better. This project is a testament to that.



In the near future I hope to showcase all of the hard work going into the fan and branded experiences we have developed.



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For more information about the project please visit: http://www.saltriverfields.com

For information about SRP-MIC please visit: http://www.srpmic-nsn.gov/

For information about The Arizona Diamondbacks: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/

For information about the Colorado Rockies: http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/

For information about HKS Inc. : http://hksinc.com/

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