This Sunday, the New York Jets take the field against the Dolphins, and the Jets wear their Classic uniform. That uniform reaches back across a lot of Jets history, but this year, the club's design team zoomed in on one specific era to build the entire brand around: the late 90s, early 2000s. Yes, people, the iMac years.
Open up the Jets app now, and take a look at the home screen. In the left-hand corner, you'll see those little red, amber, and green window buttons staring back at you. We've all seen those buttons on our iMacs a gazillion times. Such a beautiful, perfect little detail, and greeting you nostalgically right there on top.
Now scroll down to the team photos. THIS is my favorite part. This gave me goosebumps. I've never seen any of our other apps do this. The scattered grid of Polaroids, tilted, overlapping, like snapshots casually tossed on a desk. And this is not a filter, people. Emphatically not a filter. The Jets shot it that way intentionally, on Multimedia Day, with real props from the era.
And then there's a promo video, inline. The living, breathing fonts, textures, and graphics of that era. Here's the most beautiful thing in my mind: this is not a logo slap. This is not a token gesture. This is intentional craftsmanship done in digital. The entire app is a living, breathing testament to the era: the fonts, the textures, the graininess, the way software looked back then. The app exudes that brand. And it's exactly the feeling the Jets want to evoke in fans when they walk into the stadium on Sunday.
And the best part? Nothing familiar was taken away. Fans can still find all their utilities, all their news, all their media, in all the familiar, expected places. What's different is the nostalgia and the feeling that the app evokes. The app owns the era. The app owns the moment.
The New York Jets digital staff built this for the fans: "We love that this makeover enables the fans to feel like they can be part of the throwback game featuring our Classic uniform. It helps us build more excitement behind this brand leading up to Sunday's game."
And that's a beautiful, beautiful thing. So, Jets, Dolphins, Sunday, 1pm. Go be a part of the throwback in the stands. But, you don't have to wait for Sunday. You can be a part of the throwback right now, on the home screen of your Jets app. I didn't have anything to do with it, but you're welcome.
💚 Tony Mancuso, John Pullano, I genuinely wish I had thought of that scattered Polaroid-style photo gallery. What a brilliant idea. I just kept scrolling back to it and staring at it, even now, as I write this. A big Wow for coming up with that one, AND for pulling it off. I can't wait to see what you do next. Keep crushing it. Big fan here. 🙋🏻♀️
Image credit: Ana Baskinger