The Clink Room was created by Brandiose, the design firm known for dreaming up the official names and logos for Major and Minor League Baseball. Clink is the after-hours clubhouse in the back of Brandiose studios. A place to experiment and collaborate with designers from around the world. Clink Room designs are embroidered on New Era 59Fifty hats with the best embroidery techniques and execution on the market.
These are my submissions to The Clink Room, including photos of hats that have made it to production thus far. You can take a look at the current caps up for presale and read more about the process here.
WRAITH KING
The skies darken and the temperature suddenly drops. A wave of anger and despair soon follows. The Wraith King has made itself known. Flee while you can, or else your soul will become his, and forced to wander aimlessly between dimensions for all eternity.
Still keeping somewhat with the mythology league, I wanted to go with some dark and foreboding. A Wraith seemed like the perfect direction! Added some horns to crown him King of the Wraiths.
THE GRYPHON
Part eagle, part lion, the Gryphon combines the best traits from the “king of the birds” and the “king of the beasts.” Considered the superhero of mythological creatures, it is noble, fearsome, protective, and known to have an eye for gold.
I wanted to do a logo that took more advantage of the horizontal canvas of the cap crown. Keeping with the mythology league, The Gryphon, in attack mode with outstretched wings seemed like the perfect fit.
TRAIL KATS
I basically wanted to create an aggressive logo and the first thing that popped in my mind is an angry mountain lion.
With mountains and hiking in mind, I knew I wanted to use a trail inspired color palette to make the logo pop on the hat.
Lastly, as I like it when there are hidden details within design, I incorporated a trail logo with mountains into the forehead of the mountain lion.
Attack your mountain...and GET OUTSIDE!
WING BATTER BATTER!
Wings go with any sport so why not personify the partaking with a hot wing carrying a celery stick, topped with a cap made of your favorite dipping sauce!
FOWL BALL
2001 Spring Training, Tucson, Arizona. A mourning dove flew in the direct line of a fast ball from the left arm of The Big Unit. The ball and the dove were ruled dead. The DBacks go on to win the World Series and the rest is history.
A freak accident that has never been forgotten, especially by the mourning dove flock. That fast ball is forever on their minds...and they’re out for revenge.
I colored this up for obvious reasons and to also highlight the fast ball in the head of the dove.
BITTER BIRDS
The Blue-capped Ifrit, native to New Guinea is one of only three bird species that are poisonous.
Kaironk and Simbai villagers in New Guinea call the bird “Slek-Yakt” meaning “bitter bird” and to steer clear from the Ifrit as a viable food source.
The defensive neurotoxin, known as batrachotoxins are found in its feathers and skin and are the same toxins found in the skin of poison dart frogs. It is thought the toxins are acquired from their diet of Choresine spp. beetles.
Birds on hats have always been a popular pairing so why not shine some light on a unique member of the avian world.
The blue-capped ifrita is characterized with a blue crown with a black center so I turned the black portion into a skull and crossbones to signify its toxicity. Add a mean mug to him and there you have the BITTER BIRDS!
BAD SEEDS
What goes great with baseball?…Sunflower seeds of course! I thought it would be funny to showcase a sunflower with a mouthful of seeds, discarding the shell for distance.
FIELD OF SCREAMS
Growing up in the country, I've seen my fair share of corn fields and scare crows. There's always something a little creepy about them. Nothing better than him swinging a corn stalk like a baseball bat. Be wary of this this guy! He's got no problem slugging you 500ft out of his Field of Screams...as the crow flies of course!
PEACH BASKETS
I wanted to do a nod to the origins of basketball and its creator James Naismith.
In 1891, Naismith devised the game at the Springfield YMCA in Massachusetts as a way to keep athletes in shape during the winter. He nailed two peach baskets at each end of the gym and the first game of “Basket Ball” began.
The new game spread quickly at YMCA’s throughout the nation and then into colleges. Naismith eventually made his way to the University of Kansas where he became the first coach. He went on to coach Phog Allen who then went on to coach Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith (ehem...greatest of all time).
Naismith was fortunate enough to see the game he created adapted into the Summer Olympics as well as the birth of the NIT and NCAA Tournaments. The basketball Hall of Fame is also named after him.
There may not have been that desired swish sound back in the day…but there’s nothing wrong with a nice peach basket rattle.
BOBBER HEADS
Inspired by the classic Mr. Met and Mr. Reds baseball head figures, I thought it would be cool to have a fishing bobber as a head.
Make the bat a fishing pole, the head a Bobber, put ‘em in some rolled up jeans with bare feet and there you go!
Hopefully this brings back memories as a kid at your favorite, pond, lake or fishing hole. Or even with your own kid and the day of catching that first fish.
Nothing beats the anticipation, watching that bobber. The moment it submerges and you know you snagged that first fish of the day!
Hopefully you too are a Bobber Head. Somebody who likes to go outside, sit by the water and cast your cares away!
Make the bat a fishing pole, the head a Bobber, put ‘em in some rolled up jeans with bare feet and there you go!
Hopefully this brings back memories as a kid at your favorite, pond, lake or fishing hole. Or even with your own kid and the day of catching that first fish.
Hopefully you too are a Bobber Head. Somebody who likes to go outside, sit by the water and cast your cares away!
LUCKY CARD
Believe it or not yellow cardinals exist. Sort of defeats the purpose of the name “cardinal.”
Consider yourself lucky if you ever spot one in the wild as there’s a one in a million chance of the sighting!
The odd plumage is most likely due to a condition called xanthochroism. This genetic mutation renders pigments drawn from good yellow rather than red.
Keeping the bird train going…I wanted to give a nod to the rarity of the sighting by adding a four leaf clover in its mouth.
I wanted it to pop off the hat so I used classic cardinal colors which compliment the yellow, navy and green nicely.
I’ve never been lucky enough to see one…but wouldn’t mind taking one with me on a hat!
CRYSTALOBSTAH
Lobsters get their coloring by mixing yellow, blue and red protein pigments however genetic mutations can cause unusual colors.
What are the odds?
Blue Lobster - 1 in 2 million
Yellow Lobster - 1 in 30 million
Split Lobster - 1 in 50 million
The Crystal Lobster is the rarest at 1 in 100 million! The condition called leucism allows for partial pigment of blue and pink within the translucent shell.
I thought it would be cool to play off the name and make the lobster made of actual crystals. Here I’m also using metallic blue gray and metallic iris thread colors to give the logo more of an iridescent look and help it pop off the hat.
PURPLE PAISLEY POINT GODS
I’ve been sittin’ on this one for a while. I wanted to do a basketball inspired design as well as a letter mark of some kind. This was the first thing that came to mind which hopefully needs no explanation. Needless to say I’m a big fan of music, basketball, the color purple…and pancakes.
CYCLOPS
Another entry to the mythology league. Instead of creating a logo of the full figure or head, I wanted to transform the letter C into a representation of cyclops. I like vintage lettering on hats and the logo sits on the forehead where the eye of the cyclops would be.
OMINOUS OGRES
Found in literature, video games and film, THE OGRE, with an incessant hunger for human flesh is a beast feared by all. It seemed like a fitting mythological monster to focus on.
Steering away from green for obvious reasons…blue fit the bill as the other common flesh color of ogres.
I wanted to put him inside a weathered vintage inspired letter “O”, as I thought it would set nice on the crown of the hat.
ROLY POLIES
Who hasn’t played with a Roly Poly in their lifetime? The bug that’s not actually a bug. Believe it or not, Roly Polies are crustaceans, more closely related to shrimp and lobsters. They even use gills to breathe.
They exhibit an example of conglobation (rolling up into a ball) when threatened. I thought it would be cool to use this form as a baseball logo, where the segments line up nicely as the seams on a baseball.
The Roly Polies have been poked long enough and are using their roll to their advantage.
FLOATING TERROR
The Portuguese man o’ war is one of the many dangers of the ocean. Different from jellyfish, it is comprised of 4 separate parts called zooids that attach to each other to create one colonial organism. Each cannot survive without the others.
I found this information interesting as to how it can apply to any good team. Each one playing their part to contribute to the success/survival of the collective group.
I also thought the sail looked like a mean mohawk sitting up top. I figured a dark navy background would draw more attention to the features and give the impression of it floating along in the ocean.
Best to steer clear of the Floating Terror’s sweet spot! Get anywhere close and you’ll feel the sting of its tentacle swing!
FLY CATCHERS
The North Carolina coast is one of the very few native habitats for the Venus Flytrap. Having lived there for quite sometime, I’ve seen the curious carnivorous plant up close.
I thought it would be a cool mashup with a baseball glove as a flytrap with a baseball deep in its grasp.
This is one for the defensive minded folks out there. Fans of the golden glove who know once they hear the crack of the bat, the ball is going to find the inside of their glove.
LOT MONSTER
A reminder to yourself that whatever obstacle or fear you have in your life, it’s best to face it head on and “Pickle the Beast”…you may surprise yourself and things may turn out better than expected.
AJI ALL-STARS
Growing up I was all about some baseball and loved getting a few friends together to play pepper. I remember watching old clips from Ken Burns Baseball documentary of players playing pepper, hitting, fielding and juggling the baseball with one another before games. Sadly the game died out a bit and signs wet up from every ballpark from little league to the majors, banning the game for fear of spectator safety. I can honestly say I wouldn’t have the hand eye coordination I do now without the influence of playing pepper back in the day.
Aji is the common name for chili peppers in South America and the Caribbean. I thought an A worked so well with a nice negative space pepper thrown in there with a little vintage flair.
I encourage you to be an Aji All-Star and rebel by playing pepper.
