Titan tapped for heritage logo
When the NBA decided to celebrate the first Filipino Heritage Week this season, the job of designing a logo for a commemorative T- shirt went to a Manila retail group specializing in basketball gear and Titan delivered a unique interpretation that fused the iconic symbol of Filipino culture with the country’s passion for the game.
It was about two months ago when the NBA made a move to institutionalize Filipino Heritage Week. Over the last few years, there were campaigns to celebrate Filipino heritage in selected NBA arenas but this season’s treatment was different. NBA Philippines brought in legend Glen Rice to preside in the Manila festivities that included three live viewing parties and an NBA Cares outreach while the NBA tapped the Miami Heat, whose coach Erik Spoelstra is half-Filipino, and the Golden State Warriors, backed by a strong Filipino community in the Bay Area, to lead the celebration in their arenas.
“To be honest, it was a surprise when the NBA asked us for a design to celebrate Filipino Heritage Week,” said Titan marketing director and co- founder Raoul Reinoso. “Of course, we were flattered and honored. I brought in our graphic artist Diego Eusebio and Slam managing editor Migs Rocha to conceptualize the design. The NBA gave us no parameters and left the design up to us. We were excited to develop a logo that would put the Philippines on a global NBA level.”
Eusebio, a 24- year- old St. Benilde graduate, came up with just one draft design that was approved by the NBA after a month. He incorporated the traditional three rays and a sun, the NBA logo and a stylized jeepney with basketballs as headlights. “The design represents basketball and the Philippines,” said Reinoso who founded Titan in 2010 with a syndicate of owners that included PBA veteran Jeff Cariaso and Dennis Tan. “We know that out in the streets, the jeepney is a canvas of expression with a lot of colorful portrayals of basketball stars and logos. So we used it as a take-off point to also express the ties between the Philippines and the US since the US brought basketball to our country and we turned the US military jeep into our jeepney.”
Eusebio, a Titan in- house artist, said before the heritage project, his favorite execution was the Steph Curry Davidson jersey that Titan produced in 2015. The Curry jersey had a thermal map of the Oracle Arena in front and an aerial view of Madison Square Garden at the back with No. 30 under “Wardell” also at the back. The design included Curry’s 2013-14 stats, the date of his NBA debut, a list of his FIBA gold medals among others. Only about 150 T- shirts were made and sold out on one weekend at a cost of P2,495 each.
Celebrating Filipino Heritage Week in the NBA is a recognition of the Philippines’ strong connection to the league. In Miami, for instance, it is estimated that five million of the Heat’s 12 million social media followers are Filipinos. The NBA also celebrates Chinese New Year and Hispanic heritage with “La NBA” jersey designs on “Latin Nights.”
“The first NBA Filipino Heritage Week is the perfect opportunity for the NBA to celebrate the support of our Filipino fans around the world,” said NBA Philippines managing director Carlo Singson. “The activities in the Philippines, Miami and Oakland will showcase the country’ s vibrant culture and passion for basketball.” The celebration was on March 13-19 with in-arena Philippine-team activations in Miami and the Oracle Arena with the Golden State Warriors.
Titan, which has eight Metro Manila stores and a Nuvali outlet, markets all brands of specialty basketball and other sports shoes and its own apparel. It also publishes Slam
Philippines and operates barber shops in selected Titan stores. The NBA Filipino Heritage Week T-shirts hit all NBA stores in Metro Manila and Cebu, the Titan stores in the Fort and Conrad and the Titan webstore last Thursday in red, blue, gray, black and white. The shirts sell for P1,695 each.