We’re proud to announce that our New York office were asked to develop the visual identity and spatial design for the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic, America’s most prestigious high-school basketball game. 

Given the match’s proud history of producing NBA-leading talent, we aimed to create for it a backdrop that both reflected the excitement of the contest and was sensitive to its locality. Our concept for the Barclays Center incorporated elements of the Brooklyn cityscape, adding neon to street scaffolding to create distinct performance and retail areas.

The staging area played host to sets from rappers Rick Ross and A Boogie, while our retail installation was home to a display of limited-edition Jordan products. Despite their differing uses, the two zones were united by a consistent aesthetic and style guide which used sporting photography and fluid lines to evoke the movement of the players in full flight.

In order to provide the young athletes taking part with a seamless on-and-off-court experience, we also designed a player’s lounge at their hotel which featured similarly striking neon artwork and a wall made entirely from speakers.

This is the second time that the US team have collaborated with Jordan Brand, our work on their Los Angeles Space Jam campaign having previously attracted press coverage across the world.

Production support for the project was provided by fabrication studio Bednark.