(Edited press release)
The official event logos for Kentucky Derby 136 and Kentucky Oaks 136 were released Sept. 29 by Churchill Downs Incorporated, and officially licensed apparel and gifts items featuring the new marks are now available for purchase at www.TheDerbyStore.com.
Horses are featured prominently in both event marks, with a contemporary, athletic horse head topping the Kentucky Derby 136 logo and a curvaceous pink filly attached to the Kentucky Oaks 136 design. Both event logos also feature the Derby and Oaks “icon” marks – golden horseshoes with a red rose for Derby and a pink stargazer lily for Oaks – embedded within the overall artwork. The official Kentucky Derby 136 mark introduces a new color, sapphire blue, to the Derby brand colors of red and gold, while a shade of plum accentuates the more feminine aspects of the Kentucky Oaks’ signature colors of pink and gold.
For the second consecutive year, the Kentucky Derby 136 and Kentucky Oaks 136 logos were designed in partnership with New York-based SME Branding, a world leader in branding and design whose client portfolio includes the New York Yankees, LPGA and Miami Dolphins.
“The new Kentucky Derby and Oaks 136 logos build upon an overall visual brand strategy introduced in 2009, which folds the icon marks representing the Derby and Oaks brands on a year-round basis into a larger event logo design,” said Edward O’Hara, SME’s chief creative officer and senior partner.
“A horse race is at the heart of the Derby brand, and reintroducing equine images to this year’s logo collection allows us to blend the tradition of premium horse racing with fresh colors and text styles that communicate the Derby and Oaks’ modern-day relevance and constant evolution.”
Kentucky Derby 136 and Kentucky Oaks 136 products currently available for purchase at www.TheDerbyStore.com include Polo shirts, long and short-sleeved T-shirts, hats, jackets and posters of past winners. Additional apparel and gift items, including the collectable Kentucky Derby mint julep glassware, are scheduled for release later this fall prior to the holiday season.