Beginnings of WGE

Sara Vettleson-Trutza, a Biology student, and Gabriel Muñoz Labaleta, a Sports and Business student, created a club at Waldorf University. It became a place where all of the gamers could meet, play, and show off their skills. Eventually, they desired to take this club and develop it into an Esports team.

The Waldorf Gaming Experience was established and was growing exponentially and needed a brand. Sara and Gabriel contacted me, and we started to collaborate. We wanted a brand that gave an electronic vibe as well as an aggressive scheme that the brand would be flexible enough to be used for competitions and for attracting more gamers to the club.

Logos & Patterns

Since much of WGE uses computers (which is the standard for Esports competitions), I really wanted to incorporate that into the design.

First, the universal symbol for a power button was assimilated into the overall design. When a gamer goes to play or practice on their machine, they would either power up their monitor or their system; it would be one of the symbols they would see and associate across all gaming platforms as a way to prep, “Game On! Let’s Get Ready to Play!” So, each of the letters of “WGE” was a variation and modified version of the Power Button.

Secondly, the circuits were a needed element in the design; computer gaming is also synonymous with custom machine building due to the high performance needed. I incorporated this design idea into the typography with the PCB 45° Rule in mind. Each of the strokes in the type will not exceed 45° if connected. In the leathers “WGE,” I added some circuitry to complete the overall idea. The effect ties the design together beautifully.

The animation and poster design was a late winter campaign to promote the club and encourage gamers to join. The inspiration came from a very long midwest winter, as well as a Game Boy Pocket advertisement from 1996 with the headline “Freeze Your Butt Off!” We were “cool” with the idea, and decided on the “Come Chill, Join Today” slogan.

The merch hoodie concept was an idea for the future of WGE, and we were excited to see what the club would do next.