Every year, young athletes from the country and abroad strive to get into the North American league: some stay, while others go home. The WNBA has come a long way from being a beautiful extension of the NBA to an exciting and highly acclaimed women’s tournament in the world. Currently, two teams boast four WNBA championships (Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm). Although the women’s teams are not as popular as men’s, it is just a matter of time before they get appropriate recognition.
Meaning and History
On April 24, 1996, the nation’s top women’s basketball league was formed. This is how it all started. May through September is the regular season; the playoffs begin right after and go all the way up to mid-October. Thus, league managers planned to fill the unoccupied space that occurs during the men’s tournament’s summer break. In the first year, the league consisted of eight teams, which were based in the home arenas of men’s NBA clubs. That made their names and color palettes of equipment often coincide. Until 2002, the NBA management owned all the league’s teams, after which it was allowed to attract outside investors. The WNBA is currently divided into two divisions, each consisting of six teams.
What is WNBA?
WNBA is twelve teams with the strongest female basketball players not only across the country but in the world. These twelve teams with championship ambitions prove that the modern world of sports is so limitless and diverse.
1997 – 2012
The logo presents a white silhouette of a running basketball female player on a shield. The latter was tilted slightly to the side to match the movement of the woman. The blue and red color of the shield gave the logo a bold and daring feel, with the figure splitting the shield in half. Across the top, the logo had the association’s name acronym. It was simple and clean, yet got the idea across without any need for further explanations.
2013 – 2019
The woman’s figure was redrawn and now it was presented from the back instead of the front. The two-color shield was replaced by an orange vertical rectangle that had rounded corners. The name was now moved to the bottom right corner. A monochrome backdrop made the silhouette stand out and be the star of the emblem. The saturated orange color makes the WNBA look optimistic and energetic.
2019 – Today
The orange color was preserved in this logo but it got much more saturated. Now, the whole emblem is done in one color, which looks great against a white background. The logo looks bolder and more confident here not only thanks to the color but also the font choice. The inscription takes the key position in this version and features a bold sans-serif font. The basketball player’s figure has been redrawn again, but the idea was kept the same.
Font and Color
The red color in the original version symbolizes the power and passion of the females playing for the WNBA. There is also the blue, which is typically associated with professionalism, power, and loyalty. The white color was a perfect contrast for these two bold color choices. Later, the association introduced orange. Besides being an optimistic color, the orange is often associated with fearlessness and freedom. The women’s teams have often stood up for gender equality and this symbolism surely supports these notions.
The first logo of the association featured a bold, sans-serif font with strokes in the first and last characters that were slightly curved. The last feature added a feeling of movement to the inscription and allowed it to look in line with the curved shield shape. The font that replaced it was also sans-serif and had smooth curves, which actually matched the curved corners of the base. It resembled Phoenix Pro Bold font. The latest logo has a stricter, sans-serif font that is close to the Eurostile Ext2 Bold font.
