Abstract

The Houston Eclipse is a sports branding project for a fictional WNBA team, built on the idea that design can shape the fan experience. In a market where consumer attention is constantly being fought over, the brands that stand out are the ones that make people feel something. Sports already carries that emotional weight, but most fan-facing products don't take full advantage of it, often reducing team identity to a logo placed on top of a product without regard for the form it's applied to. This project approaches branding as a full system rather than a single mark. Drawing on brand guidelines from high-level sports teams, the project builds out a primary logo, The Solis, alongside custom wordmarks using the Ethnocentric typeface, a color system, and a set of supplemental assets, Flare, Star Maps, and Orbit, each inspired by different aspects of an eclipse and the night sky. The Solis itself was developed using an icon, index, symbol sketching methodology, resulting in a mark that ties together the heat of Houston, the intensity of the game, and the letter H, all within a single logo. That system was then applied across apparel, jerseys, and product mockups, with each application designed around its form rather than treated as a surface for a logo. The result extends into the stadium environment, concessions packaging, and merchandise, creating a fan experience where the brand isn't just seen but felt at every touchpoint. This project is also a response to rigid brand guidelines, making a case for systems flexible enough to adapt across different applications without losing cohesion. When a brand is built into the environment, the apparel, and the everyday lives of fans, it stops functioning as an identity and starts functioning as a culture.

Publication Date

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Visual Communication Design (MFA)

College

College of Art and Design

Advisor

Adam Smith

Advisor/Committee Member

Daniel DeLuna

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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