U4RIA (Euphoria)
U4RIA was my passion project that was born October 2023. The Esports industry was one that I truly believed in with all my heart and had spent many years apart of. I was fortunate enough to be professional player, coach, creative director, and community manager over the past 6 years until I decided to take it to the next step and take ownership and start my own organization/team with confidence from my culminated experience.
How It Started
I believe the key to a successful organization is a memorable branding and to be able to establish a sense of community/relatability. My first mission was to develop a name, and logo tied to a story that was unique and resonates with the hearts of gamers across the globe.
The name U4RIA pronounced (Euphoria) is a means to pay homage to that special feeling that fills our hearts when we see the Victory screen show up after a hard earned battle with our friends and teammates. The 4 in the name is rooted in Asian heritage as the number 4 symbolizes luck and prosperity in my culture.
As our branded was inspired by the Japanese fox spirit - Kitsune, we adopted a palette that consisted of traditional Japanese colors that contrasted each other well. The brand evolved overtime as I took feedback from our community as well as from my staff team wanting to take a more modern/mature look to our branding.
Font wise, I wanted something visible, strong, and modern. The design team settled on using Druk as our primary font and Nexa as our secondary after various test on how they looked with different designs and layouts.
Next we designed our own mascot to provide further depth to our brand that sets us apart from our competitors. Minako is a strong and battle hungry warrior with a dash of fun and mischief, She takes pride in her strength and expertise on the battlefield.
Where Are We Now?
U4RIA has changed over the past 2 years. We have temporarily left the Esports space after achieving 3 large international titles including 1st place in Asia, and two 2nd place finishes in NA along with countless other top 3 finishes in smaller scale tournaments/events. Although U4RIA has departed from one space, doesn't mean we're gone for good. We carry our branding over to new beginnings as I founded my own Badminton Club and Rave family with similar values around passion and victory culture with Boryoku (our badminton club) has brought back home 2 golds and a silver medal.