09/32 – Miami Pirates
Swing the Cutlass
We're jumping back over to the East Conference today with the Miami Pirates, the first team in the Atlantic Division.
Another team that is on the cusp – the Pirates have won their division in 3 of the last 4 seasons (despite being unable to escape the grasp of Dallas in the playoffs) after a tumultuous few seasons as a bottom-of-the-barrel team in the late teens. Miami turned a corner when they drafted their franchise quarterback 2nd overall in S19 and have been on the positive side of .500 ever since.
Visual Direction
The team name "Pirates" is a reference to the fabled history of piracy throughout the Atlantic and Caribbean in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Miami itself is home to a legend of its own – Black Caesar was a notorious pirate who made his mark looting passing ships traveling through the Elliott Key. Both Caesar Rock and Caesar Creek, located Biscayne National Park, are named after the rumored dwelling locations of the pirate.
Miami's color scheme is painted with the brush of a dangerous pirate, raiding an unsuspecting vessel under the guise of a storm on the open water – a dark sea green paired with black, a brilliant yellow, and Vegas gold.
Execution
The primary mark for the Pirates illustrates a jolly roger with a dark sea green bandana and two crossed cutlasses with cupped guards and yellow grips behind his head. The team's partial logo extracts these crossed swords as a standalone element.
In the secondary spot is a cutlass slashing through a dark sea-colored flag with the trailing remains forming a "P" for "Pirates".
Additionally, the Pirates have an "M" tertiary logo that is formed in the shape of a bone, a callback to the skull in the primary logo.
The letterforms in the typography draw inspiration from old cartography and treasure maps with the additional incorporation of swashes and sword-like cuts. The "A", for example, shares a cutlass-shaped ligature with the right leg of the adjoined "R".
The Pirates have one of the more unique jersey number sets in this league. The typographic style established in the wordmarks reaches the uniforms with sharp points and flowing curves making up each of the numerals.
Rags to Riches
The process of refreshing the visual identity and supporting graphic package for the Miami Pirates breathes new life in the franchise, as the team continues its search for riches on the gridiron.
Football Helmet Mockup by SportsTemplates
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