Comic Designer Gives Hawks a New Look

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Part of an occasional series featuring a behind-the-scenes look at some of the more unusual jobs in sports.

Matty Ryan was once a graphic designer for Marvel Comics, the home of some of America's most recognizable superheroes. Today, Ryan is responsible for outfitting a different group of high-fliers.

Ryan is a graphic designer for the Atlanta Spirit, which owns the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena. He was one of the creative forces behind the Hawks' new logo and uniform, which will debut next season.

Ryan, who will be entering his third year working for the Spirit, is cognizant of the ways his current work shows traces of his comic-book past.

"It completely influences what I do," said Ryan, 31. "Not to be cheesy, but life is really just a bunch of experiences. Working [with Marvel] and having that experience, it molds my approach of how I design things."

Ryan's most recent development came in the form of the Hawks' new colors and uniform. Although the idea might be new to Hawks fans, he said the original plan to change the team's look was presented during the summer of 2006.

"In this particular case, in the use of color and design, designing a jersey is not all that different from designing a comic-book character," Ryan said. "You're still thinking about a look, a presentation of what you want a fan to see."

The Atlanta Spirit's creative- services team (which consists of Ryan, two other graphic designers and their manager) worked together to give the Hawks a new appearance. After going through more than 50 variations of uniforms, they collectively decided on a new design. Their design was then presented to the NBA, who gave the plans to Adidas. Adidas, which is the league's official uniform and apparel supplier, used the designs supplied by Ryan's graphics team to manufacture the actual jerseys.

"I went to them and said, 'Here's what I'm thinking. See what you can come up with,' " said Lou DePaoli, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Atlanta Spirit. "I told them to get as creative as you want to get. . . . Essentially what you see us wearing this season, 90 percent of it was done in-house with our crew."</div>

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution