Charlotte
Hornets

I remember when I was in middle school, the Charlotte Hornets were the most popular jersey in my school... in Michigan! The teal and purple with multi-colored pinstripes (and let's not forget the original Hugo the Hornet illustration) were iconic, and since then their look and feel has been just as stuck as their on-court performance. It's great to see them taking steps to get back to their roots with a (muddier, but we'll fix that) teal and purple and introduction of pinstripes this year... we're here to keep pushing that direction.

Current Look: Compiled Blog Rankings

17
AVG
RANK
13
MEDIAN
RANK
10
HIGHEST
RANKING
30
LOWEST
RANKING

Current Look: Summing it Up

"The original Hornets logo is one of the reasons I became a graphic designer... it was so cool and different from other NBA logos then. The new primary logo is more in tune with the New Orleans Pelicans genre of sports logos: the angry, angular mascot... any merchandise with [the updated hugo logo] will outsell anything with the new logo."

—Brand New

Vision—Uniforms
ASSOCIATION

Back to the multi-colored pinstripes on white, with the Hornet belt buckle. Nice and fresh. We also got crazy and extended their pinstripes to the shorts— never understood why they didn't have them on their shorts all along.

ASSOCIATION

Back to the multi-colored pinstripes on white, with the Hornet belt buckle. Nice and fresh. We also got crazy and extended their pinstripes to the shorts— never understood why they didn't have them on their shorts all along.

ICON

It could only be teal. Love that it makes the pin stripes a little more subtle too.

ICON

It could only be teal. Love that it makes the pin stripes a little more subtle too.

CITY

The purple uniform as an alt feels like a must-have for the Hornets, and while Buzz City always felt a bit contrived, Queen City is an actual nickname for Charlotte (after Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III at the time the city was founded) that hasn't been used enough.

CITY

The purple uniform as an alt feels like a must-have for the Hornets, and while Buzz City always felt a bit contrived, Queen City is an actual nickname for Charlotte (after Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III at the time the city was founded) that hasn't been used enough.

STATEMENT

The Hornets nickname isn't about an insect, it's in reference to Lord Cornwallis describing the city as "a veritable hornets nest of rebellion" during the Revolutionary War. We didn't want to go as far as representing that in the primary logo, but the statement uniform was a chance to pay tribute, with a design inspired by the first flag of North Carolina.

STATEMENT

The Hornets nickname isn't about an insect, it's in reference to Lord Cornwallis describing the city as "a veritable hornets nest of rebellion" during the Revolutionary War. We didn't want to go as far as representing that in the primary logo, but the statement uniform was a chance to pay tribute, with a design inspired by the first flag of North Carolina.