He commanded the NBA’s attention by simply doing something he loves—redesigning logos.
Addison Foote, a Dixie State University alumnus and graphic designer, landed a contract with the NBA by redesigning all 30 teams’ logos in 30 days. His designs are modern and simple while also staying true to the teams’ traditional colors and imagery. Foote’s first redesign was the Utah Jazz’s logo.
“I started (redesigning) one logo, and it was fun, so I tried another one,” Foote said. “I started pumping them out, and it got to the point where I thought to myself, ‘What if I did all 30 teams in 30 days?’”
Foote said this challenge paid off after several sports blogs heard about his endeavor, and he gained more publicity. The NBA ended up seeing his portfolio and contacted him to do more design work.
Since basketball season has begun, Foote said he’s going to be much busier creating images for the NBA. He’s worked on a few social media post images for the association so far.
“I get paid for doing what I would do for free,” he said. “I really enjoy it. It’s not work to me.”
Foote graduated in 2013 with a visual technologies degree. Graphic design wasn’t a degree option until the year after he graduated, but the hodgepodge of topics covered in the visual technologies degree helped him land his day job working as The Piano Guy’s website administrator. Foote said he grew up learning Adobe programs at a young age, so he felt like he was already well versed in what he would have learned as a graphic design major because the visual technologies degree also taught him about programming and IT.
“Had I done a more focused degree on design, I may not have ended up where I am now,” Foote said.
Ron Woodland, an associate professor of visual technology, said he has known Foote since he was born because he worked with his father. Foote enrolled in a few of Woodland’s classes when he was a student.
“I wish I could teach a classroom full of students like [Foote] every semester,” Woodland said. “The NBA team logo re-design project, which was done simply as an exercise to satisfy his curiosity and to demonstrate his design skills, is typical of [Foote’s] drive for excellence.”
Foote said aspiring graphic designers should find their passion and work from there.
“I found something I was passionate about, which was the NBA,” he said. “If you’re working on things you’re passionate about, I think the quality of work will show through.”