When the giant neon signs that once illuminated Shea Stadium went off, something in the brain of Athlete Logos founder Dan Abrams went on.
“I grew up on Long Island, and it took 45 minutes to an hour to get there,” he told amNewYork. “When you were getting there, you could see them from so far away, especially on a night game, they lit up. And then, when they took the stadium down, they were gone. And that was what made the stadium special to people of my generation.”
Abrams grew up a lifelong Mets, Jets, and Knicks fan, but he never thought working in sports like this would be his career. He began his graphic designing career working on corporate items, but when he was laid off, he decided to make Athlete Logos his full-time job.
“I had a corporate graphic design job for 13 years which was boxes for cell phones, user manuals, very boring stuff,” he said. “So I started Athlete Logos on Instagram, I started at the hobby, did it for about three years as a hobby, then I got laid off from my job, and I took this full time.”
When Abrams started, this was when athletes having their own logos were few and far between. He believed that not only should athletes have their own logos, but they should have their brands everywhere. The first logo Abrams ever made was for former Mets star pitcher Matt Harvey, who had the nickname, “The Dark Knight.” It was also the first logo that Abrams sold, which inspired him to keep going.
“He was the hottest thing at the time, and they called him the Dark Knight,” Abrams said. “So the logo was an M on top of an H and looked like Batman, with the ears on the top of the M. So a company had asked to buy it as soon as I made it to make shirts out of it. So I sold it to them. I thought it was cool. And I said to myself, ‘I could just make my own shirts.’ And then over the years, I eventually transitioned to make all of my stuff.”
From Matt Harvey to Aaron Rodgers, to Chris Kreider and Brandon Nimmo, athletes all over New York can be seen occasionally wearing a shirt Abrams made. But his designs go beyond shirts and logos. As his business has grown, so have his products.
Athlete Logos now sells everything from shirts to bags and even LED signs reminiscent of the signs that once hung from Shea Stadium. But of all the logos Abrams has made, his favorite came more recently.
When Kodai Senga was signed by the Mets out of Japan, he was known for one signature pitch, the ghost fork, which was a nickname for his specialty pitch, the forkball. Upon hearing that name, Abrams was instantly inspired and decided to take that idea and run with it.
“The ghost fork, which I made before Senga even came here,” Abrams began. “When I heard he had a pitch named ‘The Ghost Fork.’ as a designer, that’s perfect. I mean, the design was ready in my head before I even finished saying Ghost fork.”
That design seemed to catch the eye of Senga himself, as photos of Senga sporting a hat with the logo on it were quick to emerge.
In the future, Abrams hopes to expand his reach beyond New York athletes. He’s not just aiming for America; he hopes one day to be globally recognized for his work.
“I would say I’d like to be known a little more nationally and eventually globally as opposed to locally,” Abrams said. “ I’m working on it, it takes time, and right now, it’s a very, very saturated market. There are a ton of designers and a ton of T-shirt companies everywhere on social media. You get spammed with shirts all the time. So it’s hard to stand out, but I have ways to do it, and I have a niche. So hopefully, I’ll be known across the whole country soon and then eventually the whole world.”
With the continued growth of his work, to his shirts that are being seen at almost every Mets game, it would be no surprise if Abrams’s work soon lights up the entire sports world.
