KC Royals : The Next Chapter
What do you get the man who has everything—even his own Major League Baseball team? A question few people need to ask themselves, but a very real query for the Marketing and Sales teams at Dimensional Innovations when trying to make an impression on John Sherman, new majority owner of the Kansas City Royals. We wanted to present him with a gift that acted as a combination congratulatory gift, display of DI's design chops, and show our personal connection and understanding of our hometown team.
The Next Chapter, as the book came to be known, outlines the narrative of Kansas City baseball—a story that pre-dates the Royals by at least 84 years and continues right up to present day. The Unions, Cowboys (not to be confused with the football team), Monarchs, A's, and, of course, the Royals all make cameos, large and small. The book includes a written narrative mixed with quotes from or about members of the team.
Throughout the book is a sense of local pride captured concisely in the words “Forever Royal”…
The Book: The historic imagery plays a key part in telling the story, highlighting iconic players, pivotal moments for Kansas City and baseball, and the people behind the team making big steps happen. Through the book, we see a progression of team colors (Monarch Red, the briefest flash of green, and finally Royal and Powder Blue) but a winning shade of gold carries us through the entire book. Dynamic, diagonal graphics interplay with photography, seemingly pushing the reader up and forward into the next chapter of history. Typography is big + bold, celebrating the big moments and words of wisdom when needed. Throughout the book, though, is a sense of local pride captured concisely in the words "Forever Royal," and punctuated by a symbolic blank section of the book...The Next Chapter is open and ready to be written.
The Box: Let's just say...the team is willing to go the extra mile just to "hit it out of the park." And DI is lucky to have on-staff makers available to help make the magic happen. With the help of one of our specialized artisans (who normally spends his time making incredible custom furniture), our custom-designed book was packaged in an even-more-custom-designed box. Made out of ash wood (chosen for its unique grain, similar to that of a baseball bat) and dyed Royal Blue, this box snuggly fits the book itself as well as a high-quality pen—tying together the idea that the "next chapter" is literally and figuratively meant to be written.
Accreditation
Copywriting: Thomas Demetriou | Design: Morgan Stockton | Image Sourcing: Morgan Stockton | Book Printing: J&J Printing | Custom Box Fabrication: Brandon Wood, Grant Kelso, Mark Poltera