Uniforms and logos are an essential part of sports teams and are created with the intention of representing the city and state of their respective teams. More than a uniform: How culture influences the creation of Arizona sports logos and jerseys presents a look at the conversations and processes undergone before teams are able to unveil their new threads. Four local professional teams are involved with this project: Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Coyotes and Arizona Cardinals. Members from each of the organizations were interviewed, in addition to Greg Fisher of Fisher Design. Information was gathered from each of those interviews in addition to research done on the history of each of the team’s uniforms. The information was then created into a documentary that consists of visual and verbal components. The film highlights how each team attempts to represent Arizona and its culture when it comes to what they are wearing on the field, court or ice. The interviews capture the mindset of creative teams as they explore growing new ideas and looks, in addition to a historical delve into two of the team’s debuts in the 1990s. Many of Arizona’s sports teams have much more behind their logos and jerseys than meets the eye. The project taught me how adapt broadcast skills into documentary style storytelling and how important visuals are for longer features. The interviews showed that so many things are taken into consideration when designing a sports logo or uniform and the process can take either months or years to finally reach fruition.

You can find my documentary here. Throughout the process of creating my thesis I was consistently intrigued by one constant phenomenon I’ve noticed throughout my time at Cronkite – that of competitive collaboration. I’d define that term as what happens when thousands of highly motivated individuals are thrown into a space where they are competing for a limited number of jobs in a high-pressure environment, while still needing to work with each other in order to succeed. Throw college social lives and general young adult anxieties on top of that, and you have the culture present within journalism school. For my project I wanted to contextualize and present a cohesive look at both the mentalities of students and the environment of the school. Dear Cronkite: A Love Letter is truly that. A labor of love and care for a place that has impacted me so deeply, I hope that this twenty-one-minute documentary opens a window into the world students deal with on a daily basis. Everyone interviewed expressed their deepest appreciation for the Cronkite School, while also making clear that they believe there are changes which could be made to better the educational environment. Every opinion and statement in this film comes from a place of compassion and respect.