Zag recently partnered with World Lacrosse, the international governing body for lacrosse, to design the brand identity for World Lacrosse Sixes, a new 6 vs 6 discipline of the game. Commonly referred to as 'Sixes,' the discipline has been developed by World Lacrosse to support and encourage the continued growth of lacrosse worldwide, whilst nurturing the sport's existing traditions, culture and disciplines.
World Lacrosse Sixes will reach new fans and players globally by eliminating barriers to entry such as cost, team size and field size and will appeal to the next generation of participants through the up-tempo, high scoring competitive nature of the sport. The new interpretation of the game also fits within the 21st Century framework for the Olympic Games.
Zag was tasked with creating a logo and brand identity which not only represented the sport, but also complimented and worked alongside the existing World Lacrosse logo. In addition to this, the Sixes logo needed to be able to adapt its color scheme to represent the different countries participating. Inspired by the speed of the sport - lacrosse has earned the title 'the fastest game on two feet' - Zag created a brand identity that revolves around the electric feel and rapid pace of the sport.
"Lacrosse has long been a well loved, if sometimes underrepresented sport built around speed and excitement with the ball never out of play," commented Fred Popp, Partner at Zag. "Visually, we wanted to create a vibrant and stimulating logo and brand identity which represented the inclusive and energetic essence of Sixes for a new global generation of sportsmen and women. Lacrosse is a cluttered landscape, particularly in North America, and we needed to craft a unique, recognisable and highly differentiated appearance for Sixes. We worked closely with World Lacrosse to develop an identity which remained in keeping with the traditions of the sport whilst also injecting a refreshed energy and youthfulness to the game."
Zag crafted the brand identity around the use of two conjoined hexagons. This visual device not only serves the purpose of housing the Sixes logo alongside the World Lacrosse logo, but also echoes the speed of the sport. The hexagons are placed at an angle with linear slices darting backward and forward through the logo to mirror the speed of the players and the ball on the pitch.
From this unique hexagon motif, the designers developed an ownable, stylized 'X' to place in the wordmark of the 'Sixes' logo by isolating the middle section of the conjoined hexagons. As well as using the six sides of the hexagon motif in this, the 'X' shape also reflects the image of two lacrosse stick heads. Zag also developed a hexagon motif which includes a stylized number '6' for when the full wordmark can not be used, for example for social avatars.
Images: Courtesy of Zag