I was approached by someone with a great idea about making a t-shirt for
one of the local high school football rivalries here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
I'll admit, at first I was skeptical to venture into the process, but upon starting I found
that the design juices quickly started flowing. What started out as a "ho-hum" effort
ultimately turned into what is so far one of my favorite design endeavors.
It's hard to encapsulate the pageantry and the emotion that comes with a rivalry game, especially
in its rawest form at the high school level where pride for hometowns are on the line.
I think, and hope, I was able to do these justice and I'm excited to continue with more.
If you have a rivalry and a story that you want to see that I haven't done, please feel free to shoot
me an email with it so I can try and capture that feeling.
one of the local high school football rivalries here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
I'll admit, at first I was skeptical to venture into the process, but upon starting I found
that the design juices quickly started flowing. What started out as a "ho-hum" effort
ultimately turned into what is so far one of my favorite design endeavors.
It's hard to encapsulate the pageantry and the emotion that comes with a rivalry game, especially
in its rawest form at the high school level where pride for hometowns are on the line.
I think, and hope, I was able to do these justice and I'm excited to continue with more.
If you have a rivalry and a story that you want to see that I haven't done, please feel free to shoot
me an email with it so I can try and capture that feeling.
The Singing River Classic
THE INSPIRATION:
The rivalry game that started this little series for me is the Singing River Classic.
The game, annually played between the Gautier Gators and the Pascagoula Panthers is a rivalry
at its core because the two schools, while divided by the Pascagoula River (also known as the Singing River)
share a School District. Formerly a joint effort in Pascagoula High School, the district was split
in 1996 with the building of Gautier High School and the rivalry was born.
Since then, the battle wages on. It's fueled by the constant big brother-little brother
complex, and the fans are flamed by an insidious, superficial effort by the district to perpetuate
a unified front between the two schools.
Divided by the swampy river bottoms, the annual meeting
between these two rivals shows a constant power struggle. The "WE OWN YOU" student section
signs and storied history show a sharp contrast in perspective from the relatively young one that grapples
for relevance in what can seem like an uphill fight in comparison to the
the other across the bridge, making The Singing River Classic is a spectacle to behold for sports fans.
The rivalry game that started this little series for me is the Singing River Classic.
The game, annually played between the Gautier Gators and the Pascagoula Panthers is a rivalry
at its core because the two schools, while divided by the Pascagoula River (also known as the Singing River)
share a School District. Formerly a joint effort in Pascagoula High School, the district was split
in 1996 with the building of Gautier High School and the rivalry was born.
Since then, the battle wages on. It's fueled by the constant big brother-little brother
complex, and the fans are flamed by an insidious, superficial effort by the district to perpetuate
a unified front between the two schools.
Divided by the swampy river bottoms, the annual meeting
between these two rivals shows a constant power struggle. The "WE OWN YOU" student section
signs and storied history show a sharp contrast in perspective from the relatively young one that grapples
for relevance in what can seem like an uphill fight in comparison to the
the other across the bridge, making The Singing River Classic is a spectacle to behold for sports fans.
THE LOGOS:
The incorporation of the Pascagoula River and the bridge that connect the two cities
and schools was a no brainer for this logo in my opinion. The ability it gave with tying in all of the school colors, including
what I consider a quintessential, but still unofficial, Gautier school color of green is what
makes this logo one of my favorites. The color palettes of the two schools are:
Pascagoula: Royal Blue, Red, & White (Official), and Silver & Black (Unofficial)
Gautier: Navy Blue, Athletic Gold, & White (Official), and Green & Grey (Unofficial)
The old school style helmets started out as my design version of word play on the word "Classic"
within the rivalry name, but it turned into a prevalent design element for all of my rivalry logos.
There are four different logo options because of the four different helmet combinations seen in the rivalry game.
Option one presents what the School District at one point required each school to wear in the game with an
alternate Gold helmet for Gautier and an alternate Silver helmet for Pascagoula. Option two shows the traditional
look for each school in Navy helmet for Gautier and Red helmet for the Panthers. Options three and four mix and match
each for the sake of color and combinations.
The incorporation of the Pascagoula River and the bridge that connect the two cities
and schools was a no brainer for this logo in my opinion. The ability it gave with tying in all of the school colors, including
what I consider a quintessential, but still unofficial, Gautier school color of green is what
makes this logo one of my favorites. The color palettes of the two schools are:
Pascagoula: Royal Blue, Red, & White (Official), and Silver & Black (Unofficial)
Gautier: Navy Blue, Athletic Gold, & White (Official), and Green & Grey (Unofficial)
The old school style helmets started out as my design version of word play on the word "Classic"
within the rivalry name, but it turned into a prevalent design element for all of my rivalry logos.
There are four different logo options because of the four different helmet combinations seen in the rivalry game.
Option one presents what the School District at one point required each school to wear in the game with an
alternate Gold helmet for Gautier and an alternate Silver helmet for Pascagoula. Option two shows the traditional
look for each school in Navy helmet for Gautier and Red helmet for the Panthers. Options three and four mix and match
each for the sake of color and combinations.
The Battle for the (Fort) Bayou
THE INSPIRATION:
This rivalry game is one that, though divided by a bayou, is technically within the same city.
If you look on any map, you will find that the City of Ocean Springs has a few incorporated areas that,
while technically still Ocean Springs, are not Ocean Springs at all.
Especially if you ask anyone who lives south of the Fort Bayou Bridge.
The biggest of those areas is St. Martin.
Located between Interstate 10, the City of D'Iberville, and Fort Bayou is the area of Ocean Springs known as St. Martin. Home to
the Yellow Jackets of St. Martin High School, the growing area has resulted in the creation of a haughty rivalry with the older, more tradition carrying Greyhounds of Ocean Springs High School to the south.
The actual rivalry has existed more only in the minds of the Yellow Jackets than
on the field in recent years, though, as the Greyhounds hold a 12-1 record in the rivalry since 2004,
with the only loss a 31-28 St. Martin victory in 2017.
This rivalry game is one that, though divided by a bayou, is technically within the same city.
If you look on any map, you will find that the City of Ocean Springs has a few incorporated areas that,
while technically still Ocean Springs, are not Ocean Springs at all.
Especially if you ask anyone who lives south of the Fort Bayou Bridge.
The biggest of those areas is St. Martin.
Located between Interstate 10, the City of D'Iberville, and Fort Bayou is the area of Ocean Springs known as St. Martin. Home to
the Yellow Jackets of St. Martin High School, the growing area has resulted in the creation of a haughty rivalry with the older, more tradition carrying Greyhounds of Ocean Springs High School to the south.
The actual rivalry has existed more only in the minds of the Yellow Jackets than
on the field in recent years, though, as the Greyhounds hold a 12-1 record in the rivalry since 2004,
with the only loss a 31-28 St. Martin victory in 2017.
THE LOGOS:
Naturally, "The Battle of the Bayou" had to include a bayou in the logo.
This can be seen at the bottom of the shield with the marsh grass and cattails.
Ocean Springs and St. Martin both share the color of Royal Blue, though the Greyhound version
is actually a deeper, and for lack of a better term, Ocean Blue.
St. Martin's, on the other hand, has a brighter, more vibrant shade.
Both Royal Blue variations find their way into the logo, as well as the more recently adopted Powder Blue color
on the part of Ocean Springs, who many would say is trying to become the high school version of Ole Miss,
a comparison which is actually not all that far off with how the Greyhounds are perceived around that Coast
as the "rich, preppy" school, a stereotype that Ole Miss also shares.
That comparison really lends itself life when talking about the Yellow Jackets, who in their own way
embody a blue-collar, earn-what-you-get attitude, that while it is the exact opposite of Ocean Springs, is actually
very similar to Mississippi State, who the Jackets also share a logo with.
This vast contrast in culture only works to fuel the rivalry, and bad blood over who is superior abounds.
Sounds like a Coastal Little Egg Bowl to me. Regardless, between the two schools helmets subliminally sits
the official logo of the City of Ocean Springs where both schools hail from,
much to the chagrin of either side that you may ask.
The helmets that make up the two different logo options for St. Martin include the traditional fighting Yellow Jacket that
they borrow from Georgia Tech on a White helmet. Option two is the Blue helmet donning the Mississippi State Baseball Logo
emblazoned in Yellow Gold.
For the Hounds, the traditional Silver Grey helmet from the era of the only State Championship
appearance in Greyhound Football history, brought back to life in 2011, is option one. Option two is the Pewter Grey
helmet from the regular season dominant late 2000s-early 2010s era (one of the winningest) of the Ocean Springs Football program.
Naturally, "The Battle of the Bayou" had to include a bayou in the logo.
This can be seen at the bottom of the shield with the marsh grass and cattails.
Ocean Springs and St. Martin both share the color of Royal Blue, though the Greyhound version
is actually a deeper, and for lack of a better term, Ocean Blue.
St. Martin's, on the other hand, has a brighter, more vibrant shade.
Both Royal Blue variations find their way into the logo, as well as the more recently adopted Powder Blue color
on the part of Ocean Springs, who many would say is trying to become the high school version of Ole Miss,
a comparison which is actually not all that far off with how the Greyhounds are perceived around that Coast
as the "rich, preppy" school, a stereotype that Ole Miss also shares.
That comparison really lends itself life when talking about the Yellow Jackets, who in their own way
embody a blue-collar, earn-what-you-get attitude, that while it is the exact opposite of Ocean Springs, is actually
very similar to Mississippi State, who the Jackets also share a logo with.
This vast contrast in culture only works to fuel the rivalry, and bad blood over who is superior abounds.
Sounds like a Coastal Little Egg Bowl to me. Regardless, between the two schools helmets subliminally sits
the official logo of the City of Ocean Springs where both schools hail from,
much to the chagrin of either side that you may ask.
The helmets that make up the two different logo options for St. Martin include the traditional fighting Yellow Jacket that
they borrow from Georgia Tech on a White helmet. Option two is the Blue helmet donning the Mississippi State Baseball Logo
emblazoned in Yellow Gold.
For the Hounds, the traditional Silver Grey helmet from the era of the only State Championship
appearance in Greyhound Football history, brought back to life in 2011, is option one. Option two is the Pewter Grey
helmet from the regular season dominant late 2000s-early 2010s era (one of the winningest) of the Ocean Springs Football program.
The Shrimp Bowl Classic
THE LOGO:
So, being a kid from Ocean Springs, I don't really know much about the Biloxi-Gulfport rivalry,
but from what I gather it's a pretty historic one. For that reason, I can't give an elaborate inspiration story
on the background with this one (if you can, please send it to me) so, I can explain the logo itself.
Let's talk about The Shrimp Bowl today. I know it's a "Classic" game that both Biloxi and Gulfport participate in,
but if Google serves me right, they don't play each other anymore? Let's change that. Like the
classic College Football Rivalry "Bowls" such as the Iron Bowl, this could be one for the high school ranks.
So for the "classic" look I incorporated a parchment style text box to hold the word art in. That, though,
is about as classic as this one gets other than the helmets, which don't come in alternate variations.
I didn't take myself too seriously here, making the rest of the logo literally a "shrimp bowl" that would allow me to include the
prominent Red and Orange color scheme that is so widely known for each school and their respective brand.
Two classic schools, one classic game, one classic logo.
So, being a kid from Ocean Springs, I don't really know much about the Biloxi-Gulfport rivalry,
but from what I gather it's a pretty historic one. For that reason, I can't give an elaborate inspiration story
on the background with this one (if you can, please send it to me) so, I can explain the logo itself.
Let's talk about The Shrimp Bowl today. I know it's a "Classic" game that both Biloxi and Gulfport participate in,
but if Google serves me right, they don't play each other anymore? Let's change that. Like the
classic College Football Rivalry "Bowls" such as the Iron Bowl, this could be one for the high school ranks.
So for the "classic" look I incorporated a parchment style text box to hold the word art in. That, though,
is about as classic as this one gets other than the helmets, which don't come in alternate variations.
I didn't take myself too seriously here, making the rest of the logo literally a "shrimp bowl" that would allow me to include the
prominent Red and Orange color scheme that is so widely known for each school and their respective brand.
Two classic schools, one classic game, one classic logo.