JD Gaming new style — mechabots and hellfire

League of Legends is the most popular game in esports, and one of the best teams in the world approached us to rethink their identity. JDG has already outgrown its logo, which they’ve been using since their foundation. 

A connection to the past and a new aesthetics

The updated style is based on two concepts at once: the devilish one, preserved and modified from the previous style, and the Mecha theme: a futuristic image of robot machines from anime. The main sign of the new design system is the JDG monogram, which combines demonic symbols and the aesthetics of Mecha. One of the devil's attributes, the trident, was chosen as an additional brand identifier. The sublogo can work on an even smaller scale and rotate with the main one without losing recognition. An additional feature of the element is its similarity to the ‘trident’ emoji, which will allow them to use it in their social media marketing strategy.

Both the monogram and the sublogo are made in a single geometric logic and are part of one large system. The connection with the devil theme is conveyed with the help of characteristic ‘horns’, which simultaneously refer to the spikes of the Mechabots.

Typography maintains the Mecha-mood

Branded lettering is already an integral part of any modern identity. In the case of JDG, it’s a simplified version of the logo with the same design principles. The ‘devil horns’ turn into horizontal strokes, so that the lettering can be combined with the logo, generating a variety of branded blocks.

For more practical purposes, the TT Octosquares font is selected, which has a variety of typefaces, but at the same time supports a common vibe of the new style due to the same geometry.

Modularity of patterns as a key principle

Key visual expands the corporate identity pack and combines both devil fire and Mecha elements. ‘Flame’ has 3 conditions — basic (random framing), modular (with a combination of elements in the grid) and a fire gradient. To create new patterns, the image could be cropped in any way: from the extremely large scale to the smallest. The resulting fragments reveal details of exoskeletons, game locations, as well as just parts of the flame.

The modularity and flexibility of the pattern allow to replace individual blocks with any elements of identity, place an announcement of the upcoming match or add a video selection of the best moments. Such features will make the presentation of content in social networks fresher and more unique.

Styling elements for LoL

The ability to mimic and adapt to different contexts is a required quality of the modern identity. This helps the brand to look natural and adaptable in any context. So, the elements of the new style can take on special conditions depending on the theme of the events. And the addition of these new modifications will give the potential to create limited capsule collections. For example, there are popular items from League of Legends, which are stylized as key visuals for using it in social networks during tournaments and matches.

Branded and recognizable photo style

A powerful and strong brand must be recognizable in all its manifestations. In addition to the identity, one of these attributes can be a photo style, because the players act as ambassadors of the club, so even their photoshooting should be thought out to the details — the contour lighting of the highlights on the hair resembles ‘devil's horns’, and the three-dimensional red light symbolizes ‘hellfire’.