Venice Basketball League
The Venice Basketball League (VBL) is a vibrant annual tournament held on the legendary courts of Venice Beach, CA. In partnership with Puma, VBL stages more than 150 games each season across over 20 events, blending entertainment, art, and culture into an extraordinary basketball experience.
VBL collaborated with Ben Loiz Studio across the 2024 and 2025 seasons to develop an evolving visual identity system spanning apparel, social media, environmental graphics, merchandise, and live event experiences.
Design Development
The overarching theme for the 2024 VBL season was ‘Veniceball National Park.’ Rooted in environmental awareness, the concept blended sustainability, street ball, and Venice Beach culture into the visual identity for the season. The focus on natural beauty reflected the league’s commitment to leaving the court — and the planet — better than you found it.
Using this theme as a foundation, we developed design elements and a comprehensive 30-page sponsorship deck to introduce the season, establish the visual identity, and attract partners and sponsors.
As draft day and opening events approached, the identity expanded into flyers, posters, and digital assets that appeared across city streets and social media.
Digital Campaign Assets
We developed a flexible digital system for announcements, schedules, player features, live updates, standings, playoff brackets, and event promotions throughout the season.
The visual language extended across social media, campaign graphics, and weekly communications, helping create a cohesive presence throughout the summer.
To support the league’s internal team, the system was built in Figma with templates that could be updated on a regular basis.
Environmental Graphics
On game days, the Hoopbus was parked courtside along the Venice Beach Boardwalk, becoming part of the atmosphere surrounding the tournament and drawing in players, families, and fans throughout the season.
We extended the visual identity onto the Hoopbus and main court through custom backboard graphics inspired by the Veniceball National Park theme, helping unify the environment across the event experience.
Banners + Boards
Surrounding the court, we designed a series of A-frame banners and sandwich board signs to highlight the league, sponsors, and merch activations throughout the season.
The displays helped extend the visual identity beyond the court itself, creating a cohesive environment across game days, fan experiences, and retail moments.
Veniceball Gear
Throughout the season, the Veniceball merch tent offered a range of exclusive apparel and accessories. Ben Loiz Studio designed a collection of garments, graphics, and product details that extended the league’s visual identity beyond the court.
The pieces became part of the game-day atmosphere, worn by referees, players, and fans throughout the summer.
The Final Buzzer
Veniceball National Park brought environmental awareness and street basketball into a shared visual language. Through environmental graphics, merchandise, sponsorship initiatives, and digital campaign systems, the identity shaped an immersive experience throughout the 2024 season.
Evolving the Experience
For the 2025 Veniceball season, the visual direction shifted into a new world of color, typography, uniforms, event graphics, and campaign materials. While the aesthetic language evolved from the previous summer, the focus remained the same: building an experience that felt energetic, immersive, and rooted in the culture surrounding Venice Beach basketball.
Game Never Stops
Across the season, the identity extended through uniforms, merchandise, media day photography, tournament graphics, and live events on Venice Beach. The work was designed to move fluidly between competition, community, and culture — creating a recognizable atmosphere on and off the court.
