The glitz and glamour of Hollywood shines through in the 2020 Major League Baseball All-Star Game logo, unveiled at a ceremony attended by Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. as well several legendary Dodgers players past and present this afternoon at Dodgers Stadium.
Dodger blue, gold, and red with a deco font, a six-pointed star, the hexagon shape of the scoreboard of Dodger Stadium, all of which appear to be jumping out above your head. It gives you the feeling you’re gazing up at some massive sign or billboard making you aware of something pretty important that’s going on.
“We really wanted to capture the idea or essence of the golden age of Hollywood”, Major League Baseball’s Vice President of Design Services, Anne Occi told SportsLogos.Net. “We wanted to get the fact that so much goes on there and that it’s so prestigious to be there.”
Across the front of the logo is an “ALL*STAR GAME” wordmark in a white deco font with gold elements helping push it into a third dimension, the year of the event is placed below with the Dodgers famous “LA” cap logo above doubling as both a nod to the host team and the host city all in one handy icon. Adding emphasis to the gold elements are two glints on the gold trim around the large star in the middle.
“There’s a lot of glitz going on here.”, Occi adds. “It’s in a special way though, I don’t think it’s gaudy, I don’t think it’s overdone. It’s just the rim of everything that’s being presented but it does give us that opportunity to have things shine.”
Perhaps what stands out the most on the logo is the little red six-pointed star between “ALL” and “STAR” on the main wordmark, aside from the MLB logo it’s the only red featured in the logo. This is an intentional little nod to the uniform of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“On the front of the Dodgers jersey you have this signature red number all on its own and we were able to take this star and make it something that was a little bit of an iconic stir to the colour in the logo”.
Following each All-Star Game the league consults with the host of the All-Star Game two years out to begin the task of designing the overall look for their game. In the case of the Los Angeles Dodgers and 2020 the process began following the Washington-hosted Mid-Summer Classic back in 2018 (and presumably, the process for the 2021 game in Atlanta is starting any day now, if it hasn’t already).
It all begins with a simple question to the team, “What do you want to be known for after the game is gone?”.
“With Cleveland [in 2019] they wanted to be known for rock and roll, the Dodgers wanted to be known for their deep fandom, who they consider to be the best fans in baseball, and for Dodger Stadium”, Occi recalls. “Whatever I did I was going to have to use that in some way that didn’t just become the shape of the ballpark. Hence why the use of the hexagon which, ties in anywhere from the scoreboard to the outside signage.”
“Baseball wanted this to be known as the epicenter of Hollywood. The idea that this was a lot about the film industry, a lot about things that bring a smile to everyone’s face. A lot about things that take us somewhere else, an entertainment factor. With the two of those ideas tied together I think it turned out successfully, and it’s one of my favorites because of the dimension, it keeps on going. Because of the angle of it, I’ve got kind of a hyper sense that something special is going to happen here.”
The idea of Hollywood and Los Angeles continues through the theme art that accompanies each All-Star Game (and the other Major League “Jewel Events” such as the World Series, Postseason, and Spring Training). Klieg lights, palm trees, the pink sunsets, are all featured heavily throughout the overall look of the 2020 All-Star Game; all of which will become more visible throughout Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium, and on broadcasts leading up to the game itself.
“[In recent All-Star Games] We’ve added to the complexity of the many places that it’s going to have to appear now, a priority is how is it going to appear when it gets digital. Quite a while ago you’d have to worry about taking the logo and all these permutations and embroidering it but now that doesn’t factor at all. How is it going to appear on the scoreboard? How is it going to tell the story of the event that’s taking place? Whether it’s the High School Home Run Derby all the way down to what is it going to look like on the field at the Celebrity Game, it’s going to have to be painted on the field. So I think it just comes by osmosis that it just has to be ‘pooled-out'”.
“[For the 2020 game] I can take the deco typeface, the idea of Klieg lights, that star in the middle, the hexagon shape, royal blue and gold. I’ve got a myriad of things I can take quite successfully and get it all out there. One of the things they are known for at Dodger Stadium is their sunsets which they describe as a ‘cotton candy sky’. It turns a gorgeous shade and everything becomes a silhouette around it. You have those signature sister palms, it’s a very specific look.”
Next summer marks the fourth game hosted by the Dodgers franchise, their third since moving to Los Angeles in 1958 and the second to be played at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers had previously hosted an All-Star Game forty years prior in 1980, ending the longest active drought of any team between All-Star Games — following the 2020 game the Oakland Athletics will take over the distinction of the longest All-Star drought, their last was in 1987, the Tampa Bay Rays, who joined the league in 1998 have still yet to host a game.
As we always like to do, a look back at Major League All-Star Games over the last few decades, here going back nearly fifty years starting with 1973 and right up to 2020:
The 2020 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the 91st edition of the Mid-Summer Classic, is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2020, the culmination of a nearly a week’s worth of baseball-themed events for both fans and players.
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