Here we are in Indianapolis, home of the Indy 500, held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race and the track are incredibly important when it comes to racing history. In particular, the brickyard claims a significant amount of racing lore. The entire track was once entirely brick, and the literal yard of brick today represents much of that rich racing history, so when considering something indicative of the city to highlight, this had a lot of gravity.
But why highlight another sport when we’re concerned with football? Because sports can bring people together and create community, so we thought why not acknowledge the role racing played in creating community. There’s also is precedent for this cross-sport camaraderie with the Pacers in the NBA.
So ahead we went. We chose to use the brickyard, but, this still being a Super Bowl logo, that representation is more passive so the primary purpose can rise to the top. It does tend to get lost at smaller sizes, but the color still gives good contrast for a logo that’s primarily white (which is a bit of a risk), and rewards anyone curious enough to look closer.
The Brickyard
The separation of the top serifs of the numerals is an abstraction of the finish line, the wings are a nod to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway logo (rendered to fit in visually), and the inspiration for the colored outlines on the numerals comes from the start, passing, caution, and stop flags which are also used in the IMS logo.
The upward angle is somewhat new to the series. Elements of past logos have been angled, but not an entire composition. If you’re concept is based on racing, the piece should probably suggest speed and movement.
Next week, the game returns to the Big Easy. Mmmmmm… beignets.