Can you say this about your logo? Well that is what the new Brooklyn Nets basketball team is saying. Co-owner Jay-Z was apparently the creative director on this project (although after doing a quick search online it looks like it was created by designer Timmothy Morris, who has done lots of work for Jay-Z and his other brands). At a press conference earlier this week the Nets announced their official move to Brooklyn and revealed their new logo family and merchandise line. Below you can see their new logo and I must say, aside from some personal issues with how the word “NETS” interacts with the shield, I like the logo and applaud their overall move to a black and white color scheme.

In the extremely flashy and colorful world of professional sports branding, especially in the NBA, it is easy for a designer to get caught up in 3-D shapes, loud colors and bold display fonts. This family of logos and their new merchandise will stand out for its subtlety. The new brand also does a good job of fitting into the New York retro looking hipster design scene of the moment. If you look below you can also see the family of logos and a couple of the new shirts for the merchandise line. The line of shirts (all of which are on the Nets Webstore) continue to push the retro modern feel of the logo and continue to shape an overall new feel for the team.

My one word of caution for the team would be to lose or begin to downplay their secondary “B” in the circle logo. At a quick glance I see this as the Boston Bruins logo and even more so when it is placed on their hats, as it appears in this press event pic.