Vietnam HAT 2008 was an annual Ultimate Frisbee tournament hosted by the Saigon Ultimate Club. It was one of the largest events for Ultimate Frisbee enthusiasts in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
I had the opportunity to design the logo for this event’s merchandise, with the request to capture the ‘ultimate spirit’ of the event. This was also my first commercial design project, which went live after I graduated.
At first, I was thinking about using ‘birds’ because they symbolize unity and teamwork, which perfectly align with how Ultimate Frisbee is played (players work together to achieve a common goal)
Then, I wanted to tie the design to something meaningful to Vietnam since the event was being held here. I also thought it would be a great opportunity to share a piece of Vietnamese culture with international friends, so I chose Chim Lạc (the Viet birds) from the designs on the Đông Sơn bronze drums. The drums belong to the Đông Sơn culture in the Red River Delta of Vietnam.
So, I picked the Chim Lạc to represent the key traits that define Ultimate Frisbee.
I experimented with different ways to modify the logo to ensure it would work well across items like banners, t-shirts, hats, bags, and frisbees. Since we have teams, I also made sure the logo could be placed on different colored backgrounds to match each team’s style.
Here are some mockup trials of the logo applied to different merchandise items.
Below are some photos from the tournament – Vietnam HAT 2008.
