Baseball Parks/Marlins Park

[jerseygary]

I was the graphic designer who did all the environmental graphics for Camden Yards - the scoreboard, weather vanes, logo, usher uniforms - all the things that made it unique looking other than the architectural shell. It was one of my first jobs as a designer and as a life long baseball fan, a dream job. Because no one had ever done a new stadium like that it was a carefree type of project - there was no yard-stick to measure against. Instead of looking at recently done stadiums I studied the old ballparks such as Crosley Field, Wrigley, Ebbets, Polo Grounds, etc and soaked in the feel of what the original ballparks and their graphics and signage looked like. Chicago had done new Comiskey and Toronto just opened theirs the year before but they were not designed to be a place that would encompass baseball nostalgia like Baltimore wanted to. The O's VP Janet Marie Smith was the true guiding force behind the look and feel of the park because she wanted it to be a tribute to the game's past and not another round dounut. She fought tooth and nail with the architects, HOK who wanted to make another Toronto stadium with no soul and through her unbending vision we got Camden Yards.

The stadiums that followed Camden Yards kind of went over-board with the "olde-tyme" stuff which frankly I chalk up to designers who were not baseball fans at heart. I haven't been to the New Yankee Stadium but I have seen the blueprints and sketches for it and I like the modern feel to it combined with the classic touches. It suits the team and the times.

It's been 20 years now since I sat at my desk and hand-drew the graphics and although I haven't been to the park in 17 years I still get a nice feeling when it gets ranked as one of the best stadiums in the majors.