Thunder Concepts: Redesigning the OKC Uniforms

With Nike taking over as the official uniform provider of the NBA, there has been much speculation about the style changes coming forth. Thunder fans have already seen the mostly untouched Association and Icon editions, but there are two alternates yet to be unveiled. As such, fan-made concept designs are floating around the Internet at an accelerated pace.

Because we wanted to get in on the madness, we reached out to Justin Peabody — graphic designer and concept jersey extraordinaire — to develop some custom Thunder uniform options for use on Daily Thunder. Not only did Justin come through for us, he sent a grand total of 24 looks across six complete sets of uniforms. The final result is…. well, it’s really great. There’s something for everyone, and many ideas we would love to see the organization incorporate somewhere down the line.

Justin is the Associate Creative Director at a marketing agency in Dallas called TWINOAKS, and his first design job was actually an internship with the Thunder. He has worked for brands such as Duracell, Tide, Jack Link’s, Perrier, Sam’s Club, Sauza Tequila, and Under Armour. He also shook Sam Presti’s hand once, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him.

You can view his personal website here, or follow him on Twitter. Check out his designs/explanations below — but please keep in mind — these are concepts, not a report of what the organization has in store.

Enjoy.

Concept 1

For this uniform set, I decided to take a guess at what I think the Thunder’s uniforms could look like next season. The Association and Icon uniforms have already been revealed, so I didn’t change anything there. For the Athlete design, I chose to bring back the Thunder pride uniform from the last few years, sans sleeves. The new one here is the Community design, which mimics the design elements we’ve seen on social media and showcases “Loud City” across the chest.

Concept 2

Here I wanted to take what we’ve seen on social media lately, and blow it out into an entire set of uniforms. The Association keeps the same wordmark from the current jersey but adds the clean lightning-inspired side panels. For the Icon jersey I separated “Oklahoma” and “City” with the number in between, something I’ve always wanted to see the Thunder do with their blue jerseys. The Athlete jersey uses predominately navy with a “Thunder” wordmark. And lastly, the Community uniform brings back the sunset uniform with the updated design details.

Concept 3

On this concept, I wanted to try and use the Thunder’s colors in combinations we’ve not seen before, while introducing a clean, modern design. I also wanted to explore a set with “OKC” on all jerseys except the Association jersey. The new striping and side panels follow the new Nike template, finished off with an oversized Thunder logo on the left side of the shorts.

Concept 4

For this design, I really wanted to create something that felt classic and modern…and introduce lightning bolts, which honestly just feels too right for the Thunder. I swear I did this design before the Pacers unveiling last week, but at the time I thought the full circle wordmark was a unique way to deal with the long length of “Oklahoma City.” The classic block numbers with a subtle drop shadow, OKC on the belt, and lightning basketball on the shorts drive home the classic modern feel.

Concept 5

With this look I created something that nods to the Automobile Alley history with a classic car vibe. The Association and Icon versions retain the white and blue designs, while the Athlete design introduces a black and anthracite uniform that I think a lot of Thunder fans would get excited about. The Community design is a modern update of the sunset concept with retro striping.

Concept 6

On the last concept, I wanted to create something that could stand the test of time. Classic striping, clean block numbers and wordmarks, and iconic lightning bolt shorts stripes come together to make a uniform set that I think could be an instant classic. Association and Icon once again remain white and blue respectively, while the Athlete version goes with a bold black “storm” look and the Community version reinvents the “sunset” alternate.