Crisp, clean, modern take on classic logo, addition of Holy City heritage highlight changes for 20th season of RiverDogs baseball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Charleston RiverDogs unveiled a revived logo, new uniforms and new alternate jerseys that will be utilized during the 2016 season during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
The RiverDogs’ rejuvenated identity, brought to life by Studio Simon, a Louisville, Ky. company, is a fresh, modern take on the classic RiverDogs logo, which has been consistently noted as one of the best logos in all of Minor League Baseball.
“The idea behind our rebranding effort was to create an updated and contemporary look for the Charleston RiverDogs’ 20th season and beyond,” said General Manager Dave Echols. “The logos have the classic look everyone is accustomed to, but have been designed by the great folks at Studio Simon to include a progressive touch, giving it a great look I know our fans will like.”
Charleston’s new uniforms feature the standard home white jerseys with “RiverDogs” across the chest and classic gray road jerseys with “Charleston” embroidered across the front. One new feature of the road grays is a patch of Charlie biting a broken bat in a crescent moon on the left sleeve.
The home and road caps feature a familiar sight as lovable mascot Charlie T. RiverDog returns in trademark style, biting a broken bat. A tri-colored batting practice hat has also been added to the mix, and it features a navy back, white crown with a floppy-eared Charlie head, and a yellow bill.
A new addition to the 2016 wardrobe is an alternate pinstriped “Holy City” jersey, which pays tribute to the City of Charleston’s nickname “The Holy City.” The jersey tops will be paired with pinstriped pants for all Sunday home games that create a remarkable resemblance to the team’s parent club, the 27-time World Series Champion New York Yankees.
“Charleston is very rich in history and tradition,” said RiverDogs Co-Owner Peter Freund, who helped lead the redesigning process. “We knew it was time to incorporate the many facets of what makes Charleston great into the RiverDogs brand as we embark on our 20th season as a franchise. The elements we’ve introduced are sure to take us another 20 years.”
For the first time in franchise history, the RiverDogs have created an alternate game hat that will be worn on “Holy City Sundays.” The all navy cap will feature the debut of an interlocking HC logo with a halo above the H.
In addition to the jerseys and caps, there is an updated primary logo with iconic wrought iron accents native to the Charleston area. Secondary logos have also been modernized and all will be rolled out to the public starting at the RiverDogs’ final home game on September 2.
“The Charleston RiverDogs have created one of the most recognized brands in all of Minor League Baseball and their classic logo is a big part of that,” noted Dan Simon, head of Studio Simon. “With that in mind, we created a fresh logo using Charlie and the classic color scheme that RiverDogs fans have grown to love over the last 19 seasons.”
Studio Simon is a brand identity firm offering an unprecedented confluence of full-service branding capabilities, proven success and award-winning creativity. As one of the leaders in sports brand identity development, Studio Simon has teamed with more than 100 professional, collegiate and amateur sports teams, leagues and businesses on the development of complete brand identity systems and numerous other projects to help build and support those brands.
The RiverDogs have unleashed the 2016 schedule. The new home jerseys will be on display Opening Night, Thursday, April 7, as the RiverDogs welcome the Columbia Fireflies to Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park for the first time ever. Sunday, April 10, will see the first “Holy City Sunday” uniforms and the debut of the new Holy City jerseys, while August 14 in Augusta will be the first time Charleston’s road grays will be worn.
