If you haven’t heard, the New Jersey Nets are now officially the Brooklyn Nets. Check out the team’s official announcement and brand identity reveal here. I have 9 problems with the brand already! Perhaps we’ll look back on this brand in 10 years and think this is classic, but I’m willing to bet that the brand isn’t even the same by then. I feel there are a number of missed opportunities with the new brand identity, but maybe the team doesn’t care. Perhaps Brooklynites are so hungry for basketball in their backyard that they’ll get behind anything, no matter how lousy and uninspired.

Problem One: “Designed by Jay-Z” - I don’t believe this for one second. When a problem arises with the plumbing at the new Barclays Center, will Jay will reach for his toolbelt? Yes, I do think it’s possible for Jay-Z to click his computer mouse the few times necessary to make these half-assed marks, but it is insulting to assume that consumers will spend money on something just because Jay-Z “designed” it. We’re talking about the dude behind these! Oh my… Secondly, if these marks did in fact come out of Jay-Z’s camp, I’m sure it was a case of nepotism and a Macbook Pro.

Problem Two: What’s with the Shield? - The shield appeared on the New Jersey Nets logo only recently (1997). It’s not like it was a design element that was introduced for a reason in the first place. I don’t see why they’re keeping it. Does 15 years qualify as the period of time where nonsensical design elements become permanent? Get rid at that garbage and start anew! Don’t even start with the “shield stands for pride” argument! That’s BS.

Problem Three: No Actual Net - Any avid sports fan has always questioned why the New Jersey Nets never actually depicted a net anywhere in their brand identity. It seems like this would be a great opportunity for the team’s namesake to finally be represented. Either that, or change the damn name altogether! Was there a brainstorming session AT ALL? If the team is moving to Brooklyn and rebranding, what’s the point of keeping a name of a losing team? Or was it too pricy to file for a name change with the league? I know how the commish loves to make that money. Whatever the reason, it’s just weak.

Problem Four: Clip Art - Every shape from the Brooklyn Nets brand identity looks as if it came straight from a clip art library. You know, one of those free vector art packs that you get from the Google? Don’t get me wrong. I truly believe less is more, but what we have here is very uninspired. I can image the creative meeting lasting a grand total of 30 seconds. Whoever is really behind the mark said, “Uh… yea, I flattened the Nets logo and put a B on the basketball. That’s about it. Let’s see what Jay thinks!” WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SKETCHING? Oh wait, I forgot, Jay-Z doesn’t write his lyrics down. He just spits off the cuff, so therefore he’s allowed to throw stuff around in the computer without any forethought. Myyy bad!

Problem Five: Just B - Seriously? B. Just a B on a basketball. When I see this B on a basketball, it reminds me of a Sesame Street character saying, “B is for Basketball!!! Yaaay!” C’mon! Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if Jay-Z the “Art Director” wanted the B there for his wife.

Problem Six: Typography - I’m disappointed that they didn’t take the opportunity to create a custom typeface inspired by Brooklyn. Why not? There are so many visual cues they could’ve drawn from: Neighborhood ironwork, signage, and the architecture of the Brooklyn Bridge to name a few. Sigh… I’m starting to get upset at this point.

Problem Seven: Colors (or Lack Thereof) - Okay, so the intention of only using Black and White as brand colors is a bold decision. It is also very noble, but I’m sure within a few seasons we’ll start to see other unnecessary colors bleed into the brand identity. Take a look at the Celtics. They’re a classic NBA team. Their colors are Green and White, but they somehow managed to create this noncept and this other vomit inducing ensemble. Establishing a tertiary color could help the team’s brand from future embarrassment .

Problem Eight: Team Gear - It’s clear that this brand isn’t for me. In fact, it’s not for anyone I know that lives in Brooklyn. The gear looks like something myself & Georgios would create in 2 hours if someone said, “Hey guys, I need you to design some gear that is middle-of-the-pack, stereotypical hip hop. Don’t bother pushing the envelope or raising the status quo when it comes to expanding the brand. We just want to move units real quick. Just use whatever is leftover from your clip art library from earlier.” At the end of the day, I feel like the brand’s tone of voice isn’t as inclusive as it could be. In fact, it tries so hard that it’s not cool.

Problem Nine: Impending Jersey Reveal - The team is making us wait until September to see what the jerseys will look like. This is just a load of superfluous PR hype. The pomp and circumstance is vapid. I’m sure the jerseys will be black and white, with NETS on the home jersey and BROOKLYN on the away jersey. What’s the point in holding back on this? The shield with the B will appear somewhere, perhaps near the back collar of the jersey. I’ll be shocked if the team uses custom lettering or numerals for player names and numbers. Yawn… Get over yourselves, Brooklyn Nets marketing team!

Jack White’s debut solo effort, Blunderbuss, dropped on Tuesday to the delight of the eccentric songwriter’s cult-like following. I recently realized that I too, may be one of those fans I speak of. I don’t recall consciously making the effort to purchase each one of his previous albums, but as it turns out, I own hard copies of each White Stripes record. So with that in mind, I was eagerly awaiting this new release from Mr. White, as my life had been devoid of his tunes for a few years. I can honestly say that this might be my favorite collection of tunes he’s ever released. Blunderbuss is my new album of choice, and Trash Tongue Talker is one of my new jams!

Download: Jack White - Trash Tongue Talker

Nike is the new official supplier for the NFL. Check out the commercial that will hit the airwaves tonight during the NFL draft!

You can never be too prepared for a Zombie Apocalypse. Map of the Dead is a great tool to locate resources near by incase of a sudden outbreak. It lists everything from gun stores to grocery stores and marks the highly populated areas in red. Here’s a screenshot of the W.A.T.P. studio off Ponce. Unfortunately, we are right in the middle of Atlanta and no gun stores near by.

We’re giving away the New Era Atlanta Falcons 9Fifty 2012 NFL Draft Snapback. To win one, just follow @WeAreTheProcess & @New_Era_Caps on Twitter and then tweet this:

“Win the Atlanta Falcons 2012 NFL Draft Snapback! http://instagr.am/p/J2O4HBG13u/ 1) Follow @New_Era_Caps & @WeAreTheProcess. 2) RT this!”

We’ll select a few winners this afternoon and reach out to you via Twitter for your mailing address. Simple as that! Bonus points are awarded to people that Like the We Are the Process Facebook Page!

The greatest hoop I’ve ever seen… hands down!

Marketplace Shanghai Bureau Chief Rob Schmitz is only the second reporter ever to gain access to visit the factory floor at Apple’s Chinese producer Foxconn. See highlights from his tour of the assembly line and the Foxconn facilities and connect to his full audio reports on your public radio station and at marketplace.org.

My takeaway after watching this video: There is an army of people responsible for the production of the iPad that I use to for the sole purposes of changing my Facebook status and streaming baseball games. As Americans, we should be more appreciative of our livelihoods. We don’t have it that bad. We are privileged (we make more than $14 a day, which I understand is decent pay in China) and we don’t have to travel far away from home to make wages to send back to our villages. The next time I take in a baseball game on my iPad (which will probably be tonight), I’ll be more thankful for all that I have.

The release of the Nike Roche Run has been a topic of conversation among sneakerhead & design friends of mine over the past month. It seems that the Roche Run meets all aesthetic and comfort requirements when it comes to kicks people want to wear this Spring/Summer.

Aron Phillips from HowToMakeIt.com has an exclusive interview with Nike Sportswear designer, Dylan Raasch, on the inspiration, design, and production process behind the Roche Run sneaker. Raash proves that “less is more” as he describes the 2 year process of design to production while keeping true to his original concept. Check out the full feature here.

Wait, how’d they do this? Besides the crazy tech that went into producing Tupac in the form of the hologram, how’d they sync it to music? How’d they get him to say words like “Coachella”?!? Any explanations or behind-the-scenes infographics would be greatly appreciated.

Update - Here’s a WSJ article describing how the Tupac image was created.

As creatives we are always looking for new and interesting ways to get the “word” out. It’s not so much finding a cute way of saying the same old thing, but a fresh take on telling a great story. In this case, TNT in Belgium nailed it. TNT asked, “What happens when you push the button?” A few inquisitive folks found out. A sign above the button simply read, “Push to add drama.”