THE CLUB WHERE I GREW UP

Athletic Club Amboise-Nazelles Basketball has changed. Changed for a better place in the basketball landscape. I started playing basketball at 12 in Amboise. Young boys and girls in the 80's had the choice between Amboise and another club outside the town called Nazelles. We won young championships and I made friends for life. I'm 45 now, I left for years to work in Paris and explore the globe and I'm back. As player, coach and Vice-President in charge of Communication of the union between the 2 clubs. I'm a volunteer and I want to help "my" club to grow. Let's start with a brand new logo and a new design for the jerseys.

PS : I did NOT design the shoes. That model is Nike Kobe 9 EM Deep Garnet and it was just to make it more fun. So credit goes to Nike designers.

Milton Glaser said There are three responses to a piece of design—yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.

When I first met the good people of ACAN, the response was clearly No! Obviously, it was possible to make something better. Look at this:

Ouch! Is this Comic Sans? What? Flames? Oh somebody forgot a baseline that doesn't mean anything in Papyrus! The club acted like amateur for years with everything from the logo and ugly Powerpoint slideshows to jerseys and event leaflets. But the most damaging was the lack of projects: no perspective, no fighting spirit, no plan for a development, nothing at all. And one day, a new President is elected and changes begin. I was at the right place at the right time. We met, we matched.

I found inspiration in heraldry art and I matched this with trendy Sport logo style. While I was working on a new identity, the President was writing huge projects down about how to "make ACAN great again". It asked more than a logo : a plan, a strategy, a storytelling, a branding, a social media plan and a lot of posters! Ok, let's have a glance!

As the first pun was not that good, kids decided a new battle cry inspired by America : ACAN, yes we can! True story. It was way better.

THE PROJECT I NEEDED

Working for the club was not just a job. It was a mission with many facets. To lead the club to high level, we needed to look like pro. Now, the projects are launched and we designed everything except the website because we are currently working on merging clubs to make it bigger.

I am truly proud and lucky enough to work with the good people in Amboise and I take my role of vice-President very seriously to offer good memories to young players. And who know? Maybe one of them will have a great professional career!