THE 150TH RUNNING OF THE BELMONT STAKES

NYRA // Design, Concept, & Execution // 2 Months

While the task to brand the entire event fell mostly on my then creative director, one particular brief fell on my lap. I was casually given an opportunity to come up with the logo for the 150th version of the Belmont Stakes. After coming up with a concept that married both the brand new NYRA logo with the more traditional Belmont Stakes one, I was given the green light to add my touch and design style to the rest of the event. 

The rest was simple, together we had decided the best way to brand such a historic event was to somehow bring both the past and present together. Once the direction was established, I went to work designing the rollout materials including tickets, program covers, posters, lanyards, and most of the remaining marketing materials such as the programmatic banners. 

Belmont Stakes Racing Festival 150th Edition

The iconic Belmont Stakes logo, redesigned and reimagined for the 150th anniversary. Initial concept all the way through to design and execution this project was the first of many logos to come.

A simple concept that tied the newly designed NYRA logo to the an iteration of the iconic Belmont Stakes logo. A subtle mixture of past, present, & future. 

Social Media Awareness

As part of the rollout for the anticipated 150th Anniversary of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, my task was to create awareness leading up to the event. With Justify set to be in prime position to become only the 13th horse in history to take the Triple Crown, my idea was to highlight and commemorate those past 12 winners.

The concept was simple, to highlight past Belmont Stakes (Triple Crown) Winners each day we'd post a previous winner in chronological order. Of course, the public would not know why each horse was chosen to be in the spotlight, but as the posts began to come together, a broader message would reveal why once the grid was complete. 

The final Instagram grid took about 2 weeks to complete. Each winner had to be cut out and superimposed on a patterned message that would reveal itself the further away you looked at it. Of course only part of the message would be visible as each winner was posted.

Once the grid was complete, the message revealed.
Can you decipher the message?

Social Media Awareness

In order to promote the importance of this event, we needed to make our audience aware that one of the contestants was in line to be a Triple Crown Winner. In order to do this I would design a post for each day highlighting a previous Triple Crown Winner. Each winner was cut and super imposed on a patterned message that would reveal itself the further away you looked at it. Of course only part of the message would be visible as each winner was posted.

Once the grid was complete, the message revealed. Can you decipher the message?

Campaign Concept & Design

When discussing how the 150th anniversary of the Belmont Stakes would speak to it's audience, we decided our messaging would be a mixture of honoring history while keeping an eye on the future. Racing Forward, was a tagline we believed would embody the message perfectly. Coupled with a black and white treatment to honor history, the copy & font treatment itself would inspire forward thinking.