With the 2016 Winter Classic being played in Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts on this New Year's day, the branding challenge was to consider all relevant influences starting with the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens, the venue, the essence of the region, and last but not least, hockey’s heritage which is, of course, at the very heart of what the NHL Winter Classic celebrates.

While the initial “ask” may be for a primary logo design, we find that we approach a marquee event brand more thematically. We have typically developed several broad concepts in the form of "flavor boards" before we even begin to contemplate a “logo” per se. It front-loads our creative effort, but by working in this manner–and with a good creative director–we establish a sustainable branding platform that can support not only a primary logo, but a 30+page style guide with all of its logo iterations, theme art and associated graphics.