Motion identity that connects jazz & basketball

When fans attend a Utah Jazz game, it’s not just about watching basketball. 

It’s about the arena experience – the lights, music, timeout entertainment, and sense of community. It all adds up to a one-of-a-kind evening that can’t be duplicated.

To give fans this immersive experience, Studio Dumbar/DEPT® worked with the Utah Jazz creative team to construct a motion identity that reflected the Jazz’s unique brand and fanbase.

Utah Jazz went through an extensive visual overhaul including logo updates, new jerseys, and a renewed colour palette. To assist them in this effort, we developed a motion identity that celebrates the athleticism of the players, the rhythm of the game, and the connection between jazz and basketball. 

To accomplish this, we created a unique visual language centred around movement. The typography, patterns, and 3D assets could be set into motion to simulate the game’s flow. 

If you attend a Utah Jazz game this season, you’ll be surrounded by this new motion identity across the arena’s jumbotrons and LED hoardings.

It all started with Jazz’s famous musical note symbol. The 25° slant of the musical note lent itself to similar angling on noteworthy text. When thinking through the animations the text would follow, we continued with the theme of irregular jazz patterns, creating a balance with asymmetrical typography and distinctive angles. 

What came next was static inspiration. Utah Jazz loved the 90s Nike ad campaigns where bold text in black and white was impossible to ignore. The focus was on a few powerful words stripped down to their black-and-white origins. While we utilised Jazz’s full spectrum of colours, the intention remained—creating high-contrast, bold signage that focused on a few powerful words.

Patterns were essential because they gave the motion identity dynamism, depth, and scalability. For these too, we focused our attention on the famous jazz note, while also utilising jazz music, instruments, sound waves, basketball court lines, and basketball shapes. 

The final identity used minimal textures in favour of typography and patterns, with one exception. 

The exception was a flagship animation created from the movement of a Utah Jazz jersey. This custom-made 3D cloth ripples and reacts when a Jazz basketball drops into its centre, enveloping the ball as it would in real life. 

From here, we sliced, diced, and combined a variety of patterns and 3D elements layered underneath bold typography. The eventual addition of colours and movement created the final outcome: a representation of movement, flow, and rhythm that could be experienced in the arena or in the digital communication of the Jazz (across their social media, for example).

The Utah Jazz then uses these mashups to create their specialty assets. This includes digital content but also the player’s hype reels, in-game audience cues, and arena visuals. 

When fans walked into the arena for the opening night of the 2022/23 season, they were immersed in the world of Utah Jazz. 

Every inch of the screen was coordinated with the bold patterns and visuals of the campaign. The perimeter LED display showcased the animations in Utah Jazz purple. Jumbotrons invite the competition to “TAKE NOTE.” And when the starting lineup is announced, the hype reels capture fans’ enthusiasm. 

This digital motion experience represents not only the organisation but the spectacle of jazz-inspired motion. All for the fans.