Outsports comes out with a bold new modern look
The pioneering SBNation community, known for fostering frank discussion about the intersection of LGBTQ+ culture and sports, unveils its new identity
No online community has done more to promote the acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans athletes than Outsports.com. Founded by Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler 23 years ago today, Outsports, with its motto “courage is contagious,” has led the way in creating a space in sports coverage for LGBTQ people while publishing nearly 1,000 coming-out stories of athletes, coaches, administrators, executives, media members and every other role in sports.
Today, as it celebrates its anniversary, Outsports is unveiling a bold new look that both signifies a change in identity and exemplifies how far the publication has come, not only in filling a vacuum for sports journalism, but also in shaping the conversation around the acceptance of LGBTQ athletes.
Outsports is also one of the most consequential communities on SBNation’s network of more than 300 independent sports websites. The previous Outsports branding was reflective of the overall SBNation branding system, which was codified in 2012 with circular badges of team and league community logos to create cohesion and affiliation with SBNation. Virtually all of the original badges were illustrated by UK-based designer Fraser Davidson at the time when the system was introduced. The previous Outsports logo features an illustration of a pair of hands emerging — “coming out” — from a locker. Co-founder Jim Buzinski explains how the needs of the brand have evolved.
“Athletes coming out in sports is the most powerful step anyone can take to advance the acceptance of our community,” says Outsports co-founder Jim Buzinski. “Our previous logo reflected that in a way that is uniquely SBNation. Still, we think the Outsports brand could be better-served by a more-universal logo.”
The previous badge created some logistical concerns for the founders as well, in that the word Outsports, set in a small thin typeface within the circle is especially hard to read on mobile and in marketing materials. Because Outsports isn’t just the name of a fan community on SBNation but a pioneering publication and movement in its own right, we chose to blow up the whole thing and start over.
While the badge system is still uniformly in play on SBNation sites, some exceptions are made, usually for sites that don’t fall squarely into the team-and-sports-league category of fan communities at SBNation, such as MMA Fighting and DraftKings Nation. Outsports is one such site that clearly warrants breaking from the mold.
We set upon creating the brief in collaboration with Jim and Cyd and arrived at two central strategic goals in addition to readability.
First, we wanted to create a brand identity that smartly and authentically conveyed the nexus of sports and LGBTQ culture in a bold, fresh, contemporary way. Second, we wanted to express the dynamism and confidence that is captured in the Outsports motto — “courage is contagious” — and build a relationship between the logo and that line into the brand system.
For help we went outside to Atlanta-based designer Richard Wade Morgan, who came recommended to me by John Voss. John, also a designer, co-founded Queer Design Club, which celebrates LGBTQ voices in our field and features an extensive directory to the queer design community.
I was drawn to Richard’s unabashed logo and branding work, which had the kind of bold confidence that the project called for. Richard was also a self-described fan of Outsports, and I knew he would connect well with the founders. Along the way, I discovered that he was scrupulous with his research and came armed with a lot of useful knowledge and perspective about designing for brands in the LGBTQ space.
Working through an exploratory sketch phase, the idea that caught hold uses a modified arrow-like T in a bold san serif, creating a dynamism and sense of momentum that echoes the essence of the phrase “courage is contagious,” (because one courageous act inspires others and thus moves everything forward).
For emphasis and to achieve the desired lockup, the arrow in the main logo points directly to the tagline.
Richard then explored additional uses of the arrow as an icon by itself and as a pattern, always pointing up. The all-caps word mark captures the bold spirit we were aiming for while also having the feel of modern sports branding. The choice of dark blue as the primary color maintains a through line that has been with the Outsports brand from its very beginnings.
As part of the system we were sure to include iterations of the logo to commemorate special moments such as Pride month.
“Given what Outsports represents to so many people, it’s essential for our community that we have a logo and branding that tells an uplifting story and is dynamic,” says Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler. “We’re thrilled that Phil, Richard and the entire team delivered something that showcases everything Outsports represents.”
Richard also teamed up with internal Vox Media designers Adrian Koenigsberg and Ryan Gantz to fully extend the system to all use cases and apply it to the SBNation website, and with Krystal Stevens, our Brand Studio Director of Operations, who managed the project.
