2025 winter classic
Instructor: Joe Bosack
Introduction
The Winter Classic is an annual outdoor ice hockey game held in the National Hockey League in the United States. It is one of the most anticipated events on the NHL calendar, attracting hockey fans from around the country. The Winter Classic made its debut on January 1st, 2008 and the inaugural event was a resounding success, capturing the essence of outdoor pond hockey. The winter classic draws its inspiration from the nostalgic concept of playing outdoors, a tradition many hockey enthusiasts grew up with. It harks back to the roots of the sport, when frozen ponds and lakes were the venues for friendly pickup games.
Objective
One of the goals of this brand for the upcoming event, was to create a visual identity that is unique from previous Winter Classics. Past Winter Classic brands were all designed by the same studio so it was important to design a brand that felt fresh and timeless.
approach
For my process, the hardest part was creating a logo that felt like a Winter Classic brand identity but at the same time felt new and timeless. I wanted to design a badge logo so that I could incorporate elements from the environment so that the brand felt like it was a part of a time and place. From my research, every single previous logo used a similar script font for the “Winter” typography. This is where I could distinguish myself from previous brands.
