Many regard it as the most unique and dynamic logo among professional sports teams – the Portland Trail Blazers pinwheel. For the first time since 2002, the Trail Blazers will update the logo with subtle changes driven by fan input. The new emblem will adorn limited merchandise available exclusively at Rip City Clothing Company inside Moda Center until the official launch in October.
“We gathered plenty of fan feedback and support on this direction for modernizing our primary logo, while staying true to our heritage and maintaining its place as one of the most unique logos in professional sports,” said Chris McGowan, President & CEO of the Trail Blazers. “Together, we landed on subtle changes that provide a nod to our past while allowing us to modernize other aspects of our creative assets.”
The timing of the logo’s evolution coincides with Nike becoming the provider of all NBA team uniforms, licensed apparel and merchandise beginning with the upcoming 2017-18 season. New Trail Blazers merchandise is now on sale at Rip City Clothing Company, with new team uniforms being revealed in late summer.
“With the conversion to Nike, we will introduce small changes to our primary home and road uniforms, as well as unveil some exciting new alternate uniforms unlike any ever worn by the Trail Blazers that were also fan inspired,” said Dewayne Hankins, Chief Marketing Officer for the Trail Blazers. “Based on the fan feedback we received about uniforms and having the talented ideation of the renowned design staff of Nike, we're seizing the opportunity to add contemporary touches to our classic on-court look and push the creative limits with some alternate versions.”
Since the team’s inception in 1970, the Trail Blazers logo has been the subject of both admiration and diverse interpretation. The concept is a graphic interpretation of five basketball players from one side against five players from the opposing side rotating around a center circle in a pinwheel-like motion. It underwent its first modernization in the mid-1990s, and received additional design changes in 2002.
Source: Portland Trail Blazers