PROJECT OVERVIEW & ROLE
While one historic Miami HEAT uniform campaign came to an end, another would begin. Miami Mashup is a celebration of HEAT history in the form of a uniform campaign unlike any other.
In my role as Brand Development Manager I envisioned, developed and executed the Miami Mashup concept direction, uniform and court designs. I represented the HEAT as we worked directly with Nike and the NBA to bring both uniform colorways to life, and worked with Robbins Sports Surfaces, Impact Surfaces and the NBA to design and spec the accompanying court. I also executed graphics and content in the supporting campaign and created various in-house and collaborative apparel SKUs released in the Miami HEAT Store.
Introduction
“How do you follow up Vice?”
That was the question floating around the HEAT office in the summer of 2020 as we began to kick around new uniform ideas. With our first City Edition concept, HEAT Vice, the bar was set high for both fan sentiment and retail success. And this time all 30 teams were to design a uniform around the same brief, adding a layer of complexity.
A League-wide Brief:
The NBA’s 75th Anniversary Moments Mixtape
For the 2022–23 season, City Edition uniforms would take on a league-wide concept in celebration of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary. The creative brief from Nike and the NBA was relatively straightforward: choose major moments in your franchise history and use them as inspiration to make a brand new uniform. On the HEAT side, our creative team was challenged to stand out amongst 29 other designs created from the same brief, and to maintain the fun factor that we found so much success with in prior alternate uniform campaigns.
Process/Development
After identifying select franchise moments that would serve as the foundation for our uniform, the beginnings of Miami Mashup started to take place on my artboard.
The mashed-up wordmark and special edition Miami Mashup “ball and flame” aesthetic was inspired by mixtapes, popular comic features, computer glitches, and random online loot boxes. I utilized the uniform trim to frame the brand elements with a “yellow rope” narrative, a nod to Ray Allen’s historic shot in 2013.
Innovation lies in the Miami Mashup numbers.
NBA rules require a standard 0–9 number set for licensed retailers to reference for their products, but there was no rule that they had to match. So I developed a standard 0–9 using a variety of past uniform number styles that would come together making each player’s uniform unique by default.
The mix-and-match numbers set the scene for the HEAT’s most ambitious personalization campaign to date. At the Miami HEAT Store, fans could choose from 72 different numbers across 8 styles to design their Miami Mashup jersey, a total of 5,256 unique uniform combinations. The year following, the team would “unlock” 4 more number styles for Miami Mashup Vol. 2, increasing the possibilities to a total of 12,656 combinations.
Players got in on the action too by choosing their own number styles worn on court, a first for professional sports. Bam Adebayo chose a Back in Black “1” and Championship Gold “3” for his uniform.
Hardwood Floors
A brand new court design was developed to round out the campaign using elements pulled from past and present court designs – the same formula established in the uniform design process. I jumped at the opportunity to place the Miami Mashup “ball and flame” logo full-size at center court.
Campaign Production
Leading up to the season I created branded campaign assets including graphics across digital channels, signage, broadcast, print, and app. For this specific project, I even created a font consisting of various Miami HEAT letterforms for the HEAT Creative team to use throughout our campaign materials.
I worked with New Era, Casetify, Court Culture, WinCraft and other licensed partners to develop a line of supporting apparel items sold at the Miami HEAT Store.
Once the team was in-season, I created a variety of branded content in the Miami Mashup aesthetic to support various team milestones, initiatives, and objectives that arise throughout the course of a typical basketball season.
Awards
Press
Results & Impact
The Miami Mashup uniform campaign connected with the fanbase. In the first year of the program the HEAT sold more jerseys than any previous City Edition jersey, with nearly half of those 70,000+ jerseys being personalized orders. A perfect successor to HEAT Vice.
The flexibility of the number personalization campaign gave HEAT Retail a canvas to create varied collection SKUs based on on-court narratives and inventory, which helped the team surpass retail goals in both years of the campaign.
A mix of traditional media, digital content and associated celebrity influence from the uniform campaign garnered over 100 million impressions, including a viral piece with Soulja Boy getting his own personalized jersey.