When Ted Leonsis took over the Washington Wizards last year, he promised fans he’d change the team’s teal-and-gold color scheme back to the red, white, and blue of the Bullets era. Early this month, a glimpse of a red, white, and blue version of the current Wizards logo hit Twitter, and was promptly panned by fans and sports writers alike. Team officials said a new look was coming soon. So we commissioned some designers to come up with their own versions of a new Wizards logo, using the classic color combination.

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Ian Bakar, graphic designer

The idea behind this concept is to represent the Wizards as an up-and-coming contender and competitor in the NBA, and to represent the city of Washington—all in the same logo.

The wizard himself is fleeting and agile, leaping toward a basket. Behind him are the Capitol and the Washington Monument. The wand in the wizard’s right hand bears a “W.” Everything in the logo is moving forward, implying a leap into the future of Wizards’ basketball. The red, white, and blue are true to the original Washington Bullets color scheme, prior to the Wizards overhaul. Silver is added as an accent color. This brand is a refreshed look, a tie of old and new, combining elements from previous identities held by the team.

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Brooke Hatfield, Washington City Paper

Wizards are powerful creatures who use magic to achieve their ends. The most magical thing about the District is the city’s ability to take all my money through the deeply sinister practice of ticketing my car regularly. My inspirations were rage, despair, jewel tones, and patriotism.

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Maggie Famiglietti, graphic designer

I ditched the old wizard symbolism for a much more minimal retro look.

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Zachary Vabolis, graphic designer
In my opinion, simpler is better. I took the existing symbols in the original logo—moon, stars, basketball, etc.—and made them into a single cohesive mark that would feel right at home on a variety of applications. The three stars pay tribute to the D.C. flag, while the red, white, and blue color palette is an obvious reference to our national colors.

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Jandos Rothstein, Washington City Paper

The word “Wizard” evokes an image of a bunch of nerdy suburban teens playing Dungeons & Dragons—unfortunately the Wizards’ play often evokes the same image. Clearly they need a name that’s more urban—shorter, percussive and monosyllabic. While changing the name again would be wishy washy, condensing it is all good. And, losing the first syllable rather than the last neatly avoids a future of Post headlines that riff on the phrase “Everybody Beats The Wiz.”