Bill Russell IMPACT CLASSIC
A visual mark for the University of San Francisco’s inaugural Bill Russell Impact Classic, a game that honors one of the Dons’ greatest alumni and raises money for students needing emergency relief.
THE challenge
The game was new, but it had to feel like it had always existed. It fell on what would have been Bill Russell's 92nd birthday, in the gym on the USF campus, and it came with real purposes: a posthumous honorary doctorate for his widow, Jeannine Russell, and a share of ticket revenue going to the Bill Russell Emergency Relief Fund and the Bill Russell 6 Foundation.
The creative needed to honor a legacy that reaches well beyond basketball, while still selling tickets and giving fans a look they would want to share.
THE strategy
The main strategy was to include as many visual cues to Bill Russell’s career, both on and off the court.
Rather than a set of separate graphics, the work was planned as one system: a key visual, a consistent color and type treatment, and templates the staff could reuse for every promotional moment leading up to tip-off.
THE CAmpaign
