By the community and for the community; Designing for inclusivity in pro esports

Brand Strategy – Graphic Design

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The esports industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world. With a thriving global scene and right here at home, there’s no surprise over why many individuals are choosing to pursue a career in and around the pro esports industry.

At the same time, the pursuit of the very best talent has led teams to cherry-pick from each other’s rosters of tried, tested and decorated individuals, making it difficult for fresh faces, skills, ideas and energy to have access to the pro-esports scene.

Empowered to recruit community players from different backgrounds, ages, genres, races, professions, the idea was to create a platform that provides local semi-professional gamers with the chance to debut and experience pro esports on a global stage.

As a new challenger on the block, OuterEdit was approached to design Team XPLR a fresh new look, while representing their values and principles as a purpose-driven initiative.

"You don’t have to be young, privileged or experienced to be successful in esports!"

Not just one of the coolest-looking esports teams in the scene, but one that has the potential to lead and influence progressive, popular culture.

We approached the conceptualisation & design of the XPLR brand identity through new lenses, intentionally diverging from the typical look, feel, tone & manner of an esports brand and aimed to showcase how a professional esports team can be relatable beyond the esports domain, as well as uplift others with progressive human values, principles and practices. ⁣⁣⁣

The XPLR brand visual system and universe of applications are designed to be simple, yet highly differentiated, unified, and down to earth. With community at its heart, we developed the 'X-Globe' symbol — an ecosystem representing how paths from different walks of life cross, intersect and revolve around each other. The visual system is also complemented by a simple yet dynamic colour palette and typeface to bring a sense of vibrancy and modernity to the brand.

The globe icon is designed to be interchangeable with other elements and can be applied in different shapes and sizes, showcasing how the logo can be configured to portray the diversity of different teams, games and capabilities in a uniform and synergistic fashion.

Through our creative process, we field tested the logo and visual system across different environments from in-game, social media platforms and even through printed collaterals. This enabled us to identify and capitalise new creative opportunities as a brand new esports team and initiative.

While supporting and following the XPLR team on their journey, we witnessed the brand logo in action. We watched the XPLR players proudly flex their team jersey as they were interviewed by well-known lifestyle blogger, Xia Xue for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang MPL Singapore!

Esports is neither just a subculture, nor is it only for gamers

As a way to promote greater inclusivity beyond the esports community and perceived age & gender perceptions associated with it, we imagined how the brand may exist in approachable everyday environments.

We designed a series of street-inspired, everyday wear that expresses the brand’s spirit in an effortless yet unpretentious manner. A proud and humble statement that showcases the potential of how an esports brand can stand for more than just gaming, but one that rallies and unites everyone beyond age, gender or status.