Rays The Bar - Reimagining the Tampa Bay Rays

When I was nine, I started watching baseball. I had played for years, but for the first time the professional storylines held my attention. Several years prior, probably around 2006, I rode along to my first major league game with a group from my dad’s work. We drove three hours to the Trop, home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. If I remember correctly, I think they lost that game, but I decided this was to be my team. 

But this was not yet the team I would fall in love with.  I became a Rays fan in 2008.

Ahead of the 2008 season, Tampa Bay shortened its name to the “Rays,” spurring a full rebrand. Professional Sports Design Juggernaut Fanbrandz retooled the Rays identity, throwing out the green and black for Navy, powder blue, and yellow swatches. I can remember the news coverage of the press release. I remember seeing the uniforms on the field for the first time during spring training (my godfather took me to a game, during which Jonny Gomes broke his nose sliding into third, for reference I guess). From the jump, I was obsessed with the blues and yellow. Not just the players or the team, but the colors, the logos, the uniforms. I received a batting practice jersey as a gift in 2008, and a home jersey in 2009 with B.J. Upton’s name. One of the first things I saved up my own money to buy was the on-field Rays cap. My dad waited in the car while I stepped into Hibbett Sports with my 36 dollars and bought it myself. 

I did not want the adjustable hat, or the white one, or the one with “Rays” written over the left ear. The Rays on the field wore a navy New Era cap with the MLB logo on back, and our “TB” mark faced front. When you wear the uniform, you are not just a fan. You are a part of the team. 

All this is to say:

The Rays 2008 rebrand effectively dictated my life’s direction then and there. I owe my livelihood to those logos and to Fanbrandz and so forth. Which is why it pains me to suggest that this identity may have run its course.

No fret, though! I fully believe that it served its purpose: to modernize a young but somewhat unsuccessful expansion team with an identity born of 90s trends and diluted over time. The current set is a somewhat trend-proof look. Nothing screams “EARLY 2000s!” and it is fairly refined. Nothing more, or less, than was required. Which allowed the Rays, for the first time, to begin attracting attention. First with their playing style and a notable rookie third baseman, later by way of good management and player development. Now the Rays are emerging as a highly competitive franchise, enjoying a steady stream of pitching talent and young offensive up-incomers, exciting a civic fanbase for the first time in a decade. Meanwhile, the Rays’ once transformative brand is slowly becoming a little lackluster. 

So with a city beginning to embrace its 22-year-old hometown team, and an increasingly impressive team at that, I believe the following brand update is a way for the West Florida ball club not only to acknowledge their new wave of Floridian supporters like they did for me in 2008, but to make a sartorial point with a bold new look that makes a lasting impression across the league. Like any sort of brand, a confident, distinctive identity goes a long way.

Here’s the fun part: The button-fronts you’re about to see say “Tampa Bay” but represent a potentiality that the next Rays identity should embrace two hometowns. Therefore elements of the new identity are meant not only for general sexiness, but to honor the legacy of our could-be sister city.

Alright.

*Deep breath*

Here we go:

Cap logo - Refinements

The Montreal Expos, born just before the first breaths of the 70s in a city known for its incredible mid-century designers, debuted a thoughtful, stylish logo for an avant-garde baseball club. The Rays did not exist in the 70s, but for the first time in 2012, they pretended they did. Their late 70s “faux-back” “tb” logo (above, left) honestly may have been the best in the team’s history. To be fair, the 70s are not a bad time period to emulate, from a graphic design perspective. But beyond its charm, there were some little issues that needed refining. I went ahead and clarified some of the line work and softened the corners.

The counter of the “b” has been made to look more like the slices of an orange, since before I could not tell whether it was supposed to be citrus or the sun. One should be wary of Nike-style marketspeak and reading too far into every detail, but there is something to be said for logos that truly capture the character of a place. The relaxed, easygoing lowercase “tb” feels a part of the casual, beach-side spirit of the Tampa Bay Area, whereas the current monogram’s serifs are just too formal, and the shadow effect is pleasant but not really necessary. 

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Word Mark - Redesign

The current shirt mark and primary logo uses a big swooshy “R” to give itself a major organic element, but is otherwise very structured in its use of Roman, small-caps type. Where most baseball teams have a loopy script or otherwise regionally appropriate identity, the Rays’ logo feels faintly like a sports bar chain and not particularly Floridian. (Again, all objective criticism. I personally feel a deep connection to the current marks, but that doesn’t make them perfect.)

So I reimagined the “Rays” logo too, setting it in a soft, custom lowercase font that matches the “tb” mark. A slight upward grade makes it less weighty, and the citrus burst makes another appearance!

Additionally, in an effort to embrace the local fanbase (and give them some killer (and might I say stylish) merch that promotes civic pride), I wanted start using “Tampa Bay” again. So in the same lettering, I created a pitched “tampa bay” mark to be worn on the road.

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The uniforms

Unexpectedly, the fictional 70s kits also perfectly captured the spirit of the Gulf Coast in ways the Rays official identity could not.

Meanwhile, The Rays play ball in St. Petersburg, a city sat between the deep blue of the Gulf and the bright blue of the sky. Both of these colors see huge use on both the shirts and pants of the 70s garb. The yellow shines through appropriately as the ever-present sun on the coast. The navy stirrups / yellow sanitaries are a particularly lovely touch. 

I wanted to draw the fun out of these fauxback uniforms, particularly the colors and their boldness. But these new uniforms are not as much a caricature of 70s design, nor as much a Southern Californian grave robbery as the faux set. Instead I modernized the important elements (thick striping, more prominent yellow and light blue combo). I also added TV numbers to the shirtfronts because I’m a sucker for ‘em and I do what I want.

Home whites

The home kit is a familiar white outfit with blue details. The chest features a new “rays” mark with a central burst of citrus. Thick sleeve stripes cuff the home shirt in navy and light blue (from here on out I will be calling them sky blue and gulf blue because that’s better for marketing and I do what I want). 

Road blues

In 2019 there was a stretch of 9 or 10 straight road wins that all came in navy tops. By record, I’m pretty sure navy is our winningest color (I’m keeping track this year and I’ll keep you posted, don’t worry). So as teams like the Padres take baby steps away from traditionalism and reimagine their “road grays,” I imagine the Rays, as another team with unconventional and creative on-field strategies, might do the same. The primary road look for the road warriors now features sky blue bottoms under a gulf blue top. That same thick piping caps these sleeves in sky blue and white. “Tampa Bay” spans the chest for the first time in the Rays era, now in a bold yellow. 

Home alternate

It’s always sunny in St. Pete, so sky blue and yellow take over the traditional home kit. The lighter shades of the new identity shine through here, sky and sun a combo as expressive to me as the Dolphins’ teal and orange. A true Floridian outfit for Sunday home games. Emphasis on the sun. 

The Montrealternate

This here is the Montreal influence. The “tb” chest mark where the expos’ beaut used to sit. The shoulder stripes from collar to sleeve cuff is another expos reference, this time in navy and yellow, as secondary colors to the sky blue base. This uniform set is to be worn for Saturday road games and select home games played in Montreal. The tri-color caps, atop this uniform and the other home looks, are Montreal callbacks as well.

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So there it is! My goal was to add some sunlight and personality to the identity that reflects the character of the region, and that’s what I’ve got. Thanks for looking and reading through. Let me know what you think of the ideas and the executions and so forth. 

PS: 

For the nerds out there, I know this is not Daniel Robertson and I know he’s not a pitcher, but his name was long enough to test the radial arching and his 28 is a good-looking number. 

Mockups by Brandon Williams at Webpixum Sports Mockups

PPS:

Go Rays. This is our year.