Forged In Steel

Sentry Esports — Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh’s grassroots esports team. Established in 2021 to support the local gaming community.

Brand Design

Brand Launch Campaign

For the brand launch, I created a social media campaign. Each post featured different artists with different art styles, and tell the origin story of the mascot behind the new logo. To maintain the mystique, each post featured a short poem, conveying the myth of the legend over years and across cultures. The campaign culminated in the final day, where the mascot was shown in full, followed by the official logo reveal.

Day 1

Streaks of light race through space

From a realm beyond

And across the sky meteors resound

Toward earth, a journey renowned

Striking the earth with great force and flame

The power within too immense to tame

Many gather to proclaim

The stars have fallen, their gift to remain

Sentry Combination Mark

I led the creative design for Sentry Esport’s new logo and mascot, and currently oversee brand management for the company. I had the final logo commissioned by artist, Nicobayu.

The logo design features a fictional, sci-fi inspired soldier, and incorporates elements that pay homage to the Steel City of Pittsburgh and the gaming community. The colors reflect the city’s famous black and gold signature, with shades of gray reflecting its steel making heritage. White hot accents emphasize the heated core and team name. The logo terminates at the bottom in the shape of a triangle, referencing the famous Point State Park at the convergence of the city’s three rivers.

Overall, the logo stands out as a unique, mysterious, and memorable entity that invokes the feelings of both a supportive ally amongst the team’s members - and an intimidating foe to their competitive gaming opponents.

Day 2

In ancient times, the meteoric iron would glow

Great power within, a piercing light

The first to forge from its galactic might

Would unite with its strength to face any foe

And so it was that iron became steel

Imbued with a force arcane

Its vigor revealed

An unbreakable frame

Sentry Pictorial Mark

Day 3

Revered through time, the champion shone

A guardian stands immortalized in stone

Hand in hand people remark

On design, on might, and enduring form

Forged to defend and become the light

That comforts and guides through any plight

Final Day

Metal clangs, hot steam fills the air

Molten metal erupts from its vessel

Lowered down with a striking glare

The hallowed armor of legendary metal

Today a new hero approaches

Dawning the armor annealed

To defeat the force that opposes

The great protector forged in steel

Official Logo

Sentry Wordmark

Tournament Series Logo

I also led the creative design for Sentry Esport’s new logo and manage the brand for the weekly tournament series, Three River Rumble. The final logo was commissioned by AJ Reau.

The logo features the famous Pittsburgh city skyline as a black silhouette, perched upon a floating platform. The platform is a direct reference to the platform fighting games, which this tournament series features every week, and is easily recognizable by players. Finally, the 3 rivers converge in Pittsburgh gold, playing to the name of the series and the unique geography of the city.

Overall, the logo has served to embolden marketing efforts and cement the tournament series as Pittsburgh’s staple weekly event for both local and visiting players from across the country - and even some guests from abroad!

In 2024, the team celebrated the 100th entry in its weekly series!

This major milestone was celebrated with great attendance, special events, and a celebratory logo. I designed a celebratory version of the logo, featuring 100 in bold text with two black lines crossing the zeroes - this is a direct call to the Super Smash Bros. series, the primary game featured in the tournaments.

I produced limited time stickers with this new logo. All attendees received one as a thank-you for supporting the team and series.

Social Media Management

I manage Sentry’s social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and X.

To-date, I have achieved a reach of over 20,000, as well as 200,000+ views, and 20,000 users engaged across social media platforms.

I also manage and market video content, achieving over 500 subscribers, 20,000+ total views across 2,000 videos, 14,000+ watch hours, and 6% click-through rate.

facebook.com/pghsentry | x.com/pghsentry | twitch.tv/pghsentry | youtube.com/@pghsentry

New Members & Sponsorships

Winfographics

For the second Sentry jersey, our team highly requested a basketball-style jersey design. I created the final design.

This new jersey design highlights Pittsburgh’s architecture, most notably nodding to its many bridges and signature glass building of its city skyline. These architectural features weave through the background, allowing the gold team logo, player number, and player tag stand out front and center. Gold trim adorns the V-neck and runs through the edges of the jersey, providing an additional accent that truly helps our players stand out at large-scale events. This jersey design breaks conventions and norms with esports jerseys, and has made a statement at out-of-region events.

Merchandise & Apparel Design

I led the creative design for Sentry’s first team jersey. The final version was commissioned by Nicobayu.

The jersey design incorporates the Pittsburgh-inspired black and gold with thick plates of gold on the shoulders and sleeves, reminiscent of the plated armor of the Sentry mascot and primary logo placed on the center of the chest. Sharp accent lines are incorporated on the front and running down the torso to emphasize the sci-fi elements of the mascot, and convey its energy through lightning bolt-like imagery.