LCS was founded by Riot Games eight years ago as the highest level of organized competition for League of Legends players in North America. Since then, it has grown into the third-most watched sports league on the continent, ranking behind only the NFL and the NBA.
In the years since, esports has become a dominant force in the world of entertainment. It's gone from being an industry that was borrowing legitimacy to having a storied history and heritage of its own, not to mention an active, creative, hyper-engaged community that would be the envy of any global brand.
For its first major rebrand since LCS's launch eight years ago, Riot wanted something that more accurately captured the passion and personality of the community it had created. So, at the beginning of 2020, Riot came to Stink Studios to help it reimagine the LCS from the bottom up. That conversation turned into a year-long partnership that included research, brand strategy, brand identity, broadcast design and motion, tone of voice, content strategy, and a launch moment and film to introduce the new LCS to the massive and passionate fanbase.
From extensive league research and interviews to a creative team composed of LoL players old and new, we sought to reflect the LCS community as authentically as possible, creating something both for and by players and fans alike.
The new brand imprint was borne out of a close collaboration with the creative team at Riot Games. It references the Summoner's Rift map, the league trophy, a fingerprint, a flame, and of course, monograms the letters LCS.
From this mark, we built a graphic system where each piece forms a part of our new story for the LCS. The color system balances the league and its teams, a typographic superfamily expresses a broad range of emotions, graphic patterns infuse a jolt of the game's energy, motion design is (literally) breakthrough, and refractive visuals reflect the many sides of this multidimensional league.
Extensive guidelines set the stage for a complete overhaul of the league's broadcast package brought to life by Troika & Capacity Studios alongside the Riot creative team.
Our brand launch film, directed remotely by Allie Avital, celebrates the league's legacy and ushers in the new era, setting everyone's eyes on the future.
This rebrand is about celebrating and owning LCS's future as the singular, and premier esports league in North America: a league and a brand that were Made by Many.
- Capacity StudiosBroadcast
- TroikaBroadcast
- Hey Beautiful JerkLaunch Film Motion Design
- Allie AvitalDirector, Launch Film