Franklin Field Day Logo
Franklin Field Day Tug of War Packaging Design

Disclaimer

Franklin Sports Inc. is a company for whom I work for on a full-time basis and I was granted permission to post this project on my website.

Franklin Sports Inc. is a company for whom I work for on a full-time basis and I was granted permission to post this project on my website.

Franklin Sports is a sporting goods company founded in 1946. Franklin Sports is primarily known for their batting gloves and are currently the official batting glove of Major League Baseball. Aside from the MLB, they have partnerships with the NHL, NFL, MLS, and collegiate sports. They also make products for an array of categories, such as lacrosse, pickleball, game room, outdoor sports games, street hockey, kids sports, golf, pet, and much more.

I was approached by the Franklin Sports’ Youth Sports branch to create branding for a new line of youth sports products called Franklin Field Day (FFD). Along with a logo and color scheme, they wanted packaging design for their new line of products. The FFD brand is inspired by field days commonly found at schools. Field days are events for school-aged children where they can participate in fun sporting activities.

The Discovery phase began with searching for “Field Day” logos. I searched for logos to see what I could do differently. I also looked for current inspiration on packaging targeted towards kids, especially in the preschool to middle school age demographic. When it came to a color scheme, primary colors (red, blue, & yellow) was a top favorite since this color combination is well associated with children. After researching and brainstorming, I then moved onto the creation process.

For the beginning stages of the Creation Process, I sketched out ideas by combining field day motifs with text and exploring type all on its own. I then moved onto Adobe Illustrator to vectorize my logo concepts.

The first logo created was a combination of stars, a trophy, a ribbon, type, and the Franklin logotype; some elements that would go on to be present in the final logo. The five stars embody the participants, while the implied ascending motion of the stars illustrates the rise to success.

Furthermore, the trophy symbolizes victory and the ribbon exemplifies a finish line. I also used colors found in the primary color palette. Below you’ll find the first logo option.

Client

Franklin Sports is a sporting goods company founded in 1946. Franklin Sports is primarily known for their batting gloves and are currently the official batting glove of Major League Baseball. Aside from the MLB, they have partnerships with the NHL, NFL, MLS, and collegiate sports. They also make products for an array of categories, such as lacrosse, pickleball, game room, outdoor sports games, street hockey, kids sports, golf, pet, and much more.

The Challenge

I was approached by the Franklin Sports’ Youth Sports branch to create branding for a new line of youth sports products called Franklin Field Day (FFD). Along with a logo and color scheme, they wanted packaging design for their new line of products. The FFD brand is inspired by field days commonly found at schools. Field days are events for school-aged children where they can participate in fun sporting activities.

Discovery

The Discovery phase began with searching for “Field Day” logos. I searched for logos to see what I could do differently. I also looked for current inspiration on packaging targeted towards kids, especially in the preschool to middle school age demographic. When it came to a color scheme, primary colors (red, blue, & yellow) was a top favorite since this color combination is well associated with children. After researching and brainstorming, I then moved onto the creation process.

Creation Process

For the beginning stages of the Creation Process, I sketched out ideas by combining field day motifs with text and exploring type all on its own. I then moved onto Adobe Illustrator to vectorize my logo concepts. The first logo created was a combination of stars, a trophy, a ribbon, type, and the Franklin logotype; some elements that would go on to be present in the final logo. The five stars embody the participants, while the implied ascending motion of the stars illustrates the rise to success. Furthermore, the trophy symbolizes victory and the ribbon exemplifies a finish line. I also used colors found in the primary color palette. Below you’ll find the first logo option.

Franklin Field Day Preliminary First Logo

Of the three logos produced, I chose the “AHT #adobehiddentreasures” logo for the brand identity. The Joschmi typeface was used to create the “AHT” design, while the below hashtag uses the Xants typeface. Since “AHT” stands for Adobe Hidden Treasures, I wanted to create a logo that played off those words (especially the word “Hidden”). I was able to mold the letters together seamlessly using the Joschmi typeface.

Each letter is somewhat hidden within one another, which creates a nice flow between each character. When you see the colored version of the logo you’ll notice that the letter “A” is partially hidden behind the letter “H” and the letter “H” is partially hidden behind the letter “T”. In the below slideshow, you’ll notice the breakup of each letter in the logo.

For the second logo option, I decided to put more emphasis on the type treatment. We created a custom typeface for “Field Day” by combining rectangles and manipulating the shapes to form each letter. We constructed a typeface that looked sporty and would match the overall feel of the logo. This logo used the stars and trophy elements from the first logo option, as well as the color, but replaced the type & ribbon illustration with the custom typeface. You can view the second logo option below.

Franklin Field Day Preliminary Second Logo

I presented these two logos for the first submission round. As a result, it led to one revision round that resulted in the final logo. The next step was to create a packaging look for FFD. The first packaging design was for the Tug of War. I used similar colors found in the final FFD logo and added red to complete the primary color palette; the color red helped the package standout. With proper layout design and appropriate use of type & imagery, we were set on a suitable package design.

I designed a logo and package design for FFD that Franklin loved. The final logo was an alteration to the previous second logo option that led us in removing the handles from the trophy. We also replaced the custom “DAY” typeface with a contrasting typeface that made the word “FIELD” more prominent.

The packaging used colors found in the logo, but included a brighter blue color and the color red that helped the package standout. Some of the packages made strategic use of the action imagery by having one of the subjects bleed onto the title panel (i.e. Tug of War packaging), which added an eye-catching dynamic to the design. 

I presented these two logos for the first submission round. As a result, it led to one revision round that resulted in the final logo. The next step was to create a packaging look for FFD. The first packaging design was for the Tug of War. I used similar colors found in the final FFD logo and added red to complete the primary color palette; the color red helped the package standout. With proper layout design and appropriate use of type & imagery, we were set on a suitable package design.

The Solution

I designed a logo and package design for FFD that Franklin loved. The final logo was an alteration to the previous second logo option that led us in removing the handles from the trophy. We also replaced the custom “DAY” typeface with a contrasting typeface that made the word “FIELD” more prominent. The packaging used colors found in the logo, but included a brighter blue color and the color red that helped the package standout. Some of the packages made strategic use of the action imagery by having one of the subjects bleed onto the title panel (i.e. Tug of War packaging), which added an eye-catching dynamic to the design. 

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The brand debuted at the annual American International Toy Fair in New York City. Moreover, the brand received positive feedback from Franklin’s vendors. Even though the FFD line is still in its infancy, Academy Sports was the first to start selling FFD products outside of Franklin Sports.

The End Result

The brand debuted at the annual American International Toy Fair in New York City. Moreover, the brand received positive feedback from Franklin’s vendors. Even though the FFD line is still in its infancy, Academy Sports was the first to start selling FFD products outside of Franklin Sports.

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