Indigenous artist Kory Parkin has a new Toronto Blue Jays-inspired design in time for the playoffs.
The painter and graphic designer, a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte who lives on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario, incorporates meanings into his creations, which can be ordered on T-shirts and jerseys or as wall art.
“With the Blue Jays having such a great year, I was inspired to just give one of the older logos that I had created a facelift. That’s how I came to doing this new one,” Parkin, who also paints players in various leagues, tells Now Toronto.
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In the Mohawk language of Kanien’kéha, Toronto is Tkarón:to and the blue jay bird is terí:teri, which he used in work, but now there is so much more than meets the eye in his latest team logo interpolation.
“I always loved the different Blue Jays logos that they’ve had throughout the years, the different eras and the players. So, a few years ago, I created one based off of the Maple Leaf logo that they had and, as I was coming out with new designs and new artwork, people wanted to have that logo but my art’s always transitioning and getting better, and there’s things I wish I would have done.”
One of those things is telling a bigger story through symbols. He sent Now Toronto an illustrated breakdown of the carefully thought-out patterns and images incorporated in the familiar Blue Jays logo with a twist.
“When I look at the logos, I try to always focus on the main parts of it that, if I was to illustrate it, even though it could have a different look, it’s still going to be very recognizable,” Parkin says. “With this one, it was based off, I think the ‘97, ‘98 logo and now it’s back, with the [Carlos] Delgado era badge. The main elements of it were the maple leaf with the bird and ball.”
In this latest design, the leaf pattern shows the Toronto skyline; the two angles represent the number 7, hence 77, the year the Toronto Blue Jays joined the American League; the baseball is behind the blue jay’s head, and the thin curved pointed shape is intended to represent the Rogers Centre’s retractable roof. The two flags symbolize the back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and ‘93; and the ‘T’, of course, stands for Toronto.
“Previously, some of my logos were more of just eye-popping catchy things, throwing in elements that I use in the logos, but really didn’t have much meaning behind it other than just trying to create my own style,” he says. “So, now with a lot of my logos, I’m always trying to come up with how can I use this as not just as something cool, but so it can start a talking point or teach people about things that I remember being taught about my culture.”
Parkin hasn’t officially partnered with the Toronto Blue Jays but wishes he could, especially with their non-profit Jays Care Foundation, which he praises for their investment and collaborations in Indigenous communities, including building ballparks through its Field of Dreams program.
“I’ve always tried to put my hand out there as being, ‘Hey, if you guys want to work together, I’d love to be able to even create a logo for the Jays Care when they work with these Indigenous communities,” Parkin says.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs back on the ice, Parkin also has a design available he created at the end of last season.
“That one took a lot longer because I tried to really do a larger story behind it, the Mohawk story behind the formation of the Six Nations with the peacemaker and everything. So, I had a lot more design in that one. For this upcoming season, I’ll still promote that one because I am really proud of how it came out.”
When he has time, he’ll tackle the Raptors.
“I want to give a fresh look to their logo or at least do some of their new players.”
Parkin has collaborated with many leagues in the past, including the PWHL, IIHF, NLL. NBA. AHL, OHL, AFL Ontario and the CFL.
He created a logo for Ottawa PWHL team the Charge after player Victoria Bach, a fellow Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte member, got traded from Toronto.
“For their Indigenous celebration game this past season, they ended up having all the players come in wearing the shirt that I designed,” he says.
Parkin also created a special piece for Jays colour commentator Buck Martinez, depicting his career as a catcher, coach and now broadcaster, and 1993 World Series champion Rob Butler, a fellow Mohawk, also has his work.
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