Role: Visual Identity, Illustration, Design
Client: Sports Direct
I worked part of the Copa90 Team with client Sports Direct to create the visual identity for Sports Slam; a mass participation event in primary schools across the UK, aiming to enable play for millions of school children driving INCLUSIVITY, FUN & DISCOVERY.
I developed a robust Logo lock-up System that’s complimentary to the Sports Direct Brand. At the heart of the visual Identity is “Slam”, Sports Slam’s mascot as an anchor figure drawing children into Sports Slam’s world that is filled with life and populated with diverse set of children characters playing sports as well as anthropomorphized set of Sports Equipment that can be used in a flexible and modular way across multiple marketing collateral including Flyers, Lesson Plans, Bibs, Envelopes, Certificates, Posters, Web Banners, and a custom website. Select items previewed here.
You can learn more about the program here.
Team:
Project Manager: Ally Everitt
Creative Director: Owen Jones
Copywriter: James Child
Animation: Steve Gurr
Account Manager: Ben Chapman, Ross Winterflood
Role: Illustration, System Build
Client: Avery Dennison
Avery Dennison is a global materials science company specializing in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labeling and functional materials. “Made To Mention” is Avery Dennison’s Quarterly Insights & Trends Report. Each issue focuses on a central theme. I worked on Made To Mention 06: Connected Communities & Made To Mention 08: Connected Demand. I worked with Senior Manager Market Intelligence Amy Lee on both reports.
Made To Mention 06: Connected Communities
Theme: How digital connectivity continues to transform and impact the relationship between professional networks, sports brands and businesses across local & global domains.
I created individual modules based on themes (eco-driven supply chain, Connected Consciousness via VR & Metaverse, Smartphone scan manufacturing products revealing connectivity, human & tech care for planet, equity, fairness & balance, calls for change/activism, putting money back into the planet) in a clean, flat style that can work together to be rearranged easily for different formats.
I built a flexible modular system that could be repurposed across multiple channels and formats including web, e-mail/CRM, social image; tall and square, thumbnail & print.
Made To Mention 08: Connected Demand
Theme: Profiling Supply Chain Connectivity, Factory Automation and The Future of Retail. Throughout the supply chain process, digital transformation helps apparel companies weather volatility and uncertainty.
I used the visual metaphor of modular spheres with conveyor belts that operate simultaneously part of a responsive global engine to illustrate key trends facing industries today; Data Sustainability, Localization, On-Demand production, Metaverse, live commerce, Data Forecasting, Smart Automation, Data Syncing and Industry 5.0. Swipe right for more detailed diagrams of each module.
I built a flexible modular system that could be repurposed across multiple channels and formats including web, e-mail/CRM, social image; tall and square, thumbnail & print.
Various Match Day Posters.
Role: Design, Illustration, Art Direction
Client: Major League Soccer
I worked with Major League Soccer to develop a visual identity for the annual All-Star Week in Washington, D.C. that can be used across merchandise and the official match jersey. Thank you to the creative team for trusting me build a system of this scale, playfully exploring DC’s cultural & historical tradition in a way that hasn't been done before.
The primary motif is derived from deconstructing & reconfiguring the district's iconic twin-stripe-3star flag seen here in patterns, icons and lock ups. I had a lot of fun exploring ways to tie such a broad visual landscape together, including but not limited to the rhyming between the Target logo which features prominently across all branding touchpoints, concentric circles and eye motif. Merch was available for all attendees of the event and in the official MLS Store.
Photographer: Jared Soares
Stylist: Lucas Mendes
Stylist Assistant: Keith Witherell
Lighting: Justin Gellerson
Talent: Nickthekidd Maya Stephen Sebastian Hendi
BTS: @malliethefool
Match Photography: Stade NYC
Role: Design, Illustration, Creative Strategy
Client: Sports Direct
I teamed up with Sports Direct, a UK based Sports retailer to create a series of limited edition football patches for their "Just a Game?!" Euro 2020 Campaign to celebrate the opening of a new flagship store in London.
In the store an activation station allows fans to pick and choose their favorite patch and customize any item from shirts, hats and kits.
Role: Design, Brand Development, Creative Strategy
Client: Major League Soccer
MLS NEXT is a new paradigm for player development. A platform that will transform the way players learn and grow. Building on where we’ve been, but looking ahead to the future. Taking youth soccer to the next level. The future starts here.
The creative & brand team at Major League Soccer reached out to help develop the brand for a new comprehensive national youth program that aims to help shape and transform youth soccer development in North America for generations to come.
We wanted to create a dynamic, bold brand that simultaneously can exist in the current MLS Brand eco-system and push it to be something different. The MLS Primary Logo is defined by its shield crest divided by a 45 degree slash representing soccer’s speed and energy. The slash begins outside the perimeter and drives upward at a 45-degree angle to illustrate both the non-stop nature of our game and the rising trajectory of our League. It bisects the Crest to create a “first half” and “second half.”
MLS NEXT is an inclusive and broad platform aimed to identify & develop players. The X-factor commonly designates that special unique quality that demarcates great players and in exploring ways to create an aspirational brand that also tells the story of player’s journey I identified the “X” in “NEXT” as a primary signifier. Angled at 45 degrees to mirror the MLS Primary Logo slash, the bottom left stem of the X breaks out of the crest symbolizing innovation & boldness that characterizes the player’s journey.
Various Soccer related illustrations including client & personal work.
You can find Art Prints of some of these and more here.
Role: Art Direction, Social Content, Illustration
Client: Bundesliga
For the 2016/2017 & 2017/2018 season I had the opportunity to work with the team at the Bundesliga to art direct, strategize & produce a series of static & animated graphics for social use. I thought I would highlight my strategy using a selection of graphics created for the final match-day to discuss five types of visual content that sports publishers can create for social use.
Project Goal:
Create high-impact visuals imbued with relevant narratives focusing on six of the Bundesliga's biggest stories from the 2016/2017 season. To increase reach it was suggested for the relevant Bundesliga clubs to share the content. Examples below: FC Bayern Munich
Types of social content:
1. Editorial: This type of graphic doesn't accompany a written article but functions very much like one. Traditionally, accompanying editorial illustrations tease the premise of an article or visualize a key point. The social media editorial on the other hand encapsulates the premise completely and doesn't require an accompanying article. Publishers can also easily plug in the graphic into a written article for clicks back to a web hub.
Example 1:
Story: RB Leipzig rose from the fifth tier of German football to the Bundesliga in just 8 years culminating in an incredible first Bundesliga season with the Champions League on the horizon.
Example 2:
Story: One of football's most chic & sophisticated players; FC Bayern's Xabi Alonso is retiring after playing for Europe's top clubs culminating in a stunning trophy cabinet.
2: Universal Responsive: Primary function of this graphic is to have a long, if possible, infinite shelf-life which means it can be used during time of production or long after as long as the premise holds. One approach to make the graphic "sticky" is to reference a relevant enough meme that acts as an archetypal placeholder.
Example 1: Here I referenced the humerous Zach Galifianakis "Math Genius" Meme that has become a symbolic & visual communicator of wit, intelligence & prodigiousness across social platforms. This graphic was used this season and can be re-used accordingly next season for domestic games, Champions league games, and more playfully for innocuous twitter exchanges/banter.
Story: At only 28 years old, the youngest coach in the Bundesliga; Julian Nagelsmann has given village club TSG Hoffenheim its best finish in Bundesliga history culminating in a Champions League spot. Hoffenheim's incredible season has garnered praise from all over the world for the young football prodigy.
3. Real-time single use: Graphic that functions primarily in limited timeframe, often referencing one specific idea or key insight. Since this graphic is based on a fluctuating premise it's best used in real time.
Example 1: This graphic was used as each of the two players scored, re-emphasizing the narrative until its logical conclusion.
Story: The 2016/2017 season was characterized by a race for the league's top scorer award (TorJägerKanone) between Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and FC Bayern's Robert Lewandowski, swinging back & forth until it was decided on the final matchday.
4: Infographic: Graphic that represents data or information.
Example 1:
Story: The Bundesliga consistently features some of the world's most wondrous & exciting young talent. The 2016/2017 season saw the emergence of 5 particular players who stole headlines.
5. Hybrid: These categories are flexible & can often be combined.
Example 1:
Story: Philipp Lahm is retiring after a career that oversaw an illustrious career ranging from a loan at VFB Stuttgart to captaining FC Bayern & captaining Germany to a World Cup win. Created as video & gif.
Here I combined the Editorial & Infographic approach.
Example 2
Story: Stefan Kiessling retires at end of 2017/2018 season.
Case study in Content Creation for International Champions Cup during my time at Relevent Sports Group broken into three tiers:
Content Types:
Match Related/News
Historical
Optimized for all Platforms
Role:
Content Strategy, Ideation, Art Direction, Design & Production working closely with independent designers & illustrators.
Role: Art Direction, Branded Content
Client: Major League Soccer
From 2014 to 2016 I collaborated with Major League soccer in strategizing and producing social and branded content for MLS partners Heineken & Adidas. I was responsible for strategy, ideation & production working with illustrators for the following content series.
Rivalry Week
MLS Insider
NYCFC Match Posters
Role: Illustration, Concept
Client: ESPN
Role: Design, Illustration
Client: United States Postal Service
I worked with JourneyGroup to create eight new sports-themed stamps for The United States Postal Service. You can purchase the stamps & various other stationary here.
Official Press Release:
The U.S. Postal Service will soon release first-of-a-kind stamps with the look — and feel — of actual balls used in eight popular sports. Available nationwide June 14, the Have a Ball! Forever stamps depict balls used in baseball, basketball, football, golf, kickball, soccer, tennis and volleyball.
A special coating applied to selected areas of the stamps during the printing process gives them a texture that mimics the feel of a baseball’s stitching; golf ball’s dimples; tennis ball’s seams; soccer ball or volleyball’s textured panels; and,the different raised patterns of a football, basketball and kickball. News about the stamps is being shared on social media under the hashtag #Haveaballstamps.
Role: Design, Illustration
Client: Josimar Magazine
I was commissioned by Josimar Magazine to illustrate the cover for their 200 page World Cup special edition issue. The generous team at Josimar gave me full creative freedom so I really wanted to pour my love for the history of football into this cover. Since the upcoming World Cup will be the 21st installment I thought this would be a great opportunity to highlight the previous 20 tournaments spanning 1930 to 2014 and create a tapestry of its significant moments. The issue itself is a retrospective of the World Cup with no direct mention of the upcoming tournament in Russia so to allude to but not directly represent that I used a white/blue/red color scheme and a modified Soviet Style typeface.
Concept & Layout:
Digital communication technology has blasted history wide open, dispersing its individual parts to all corners of the internet. For the first time young people have the chance to learn about history in their own ways on platforms like youtube, twitter, from various listicles, etc. Each learning experience online is like an individual discovery and the user is an archeologist unearthing moments in history to fit the pieces of the whole together. This modular approach to re-interpreting history gave me the idea to represent individual vignettes for each World Cup as something akin to self-contained archetypal events that exist within self-luminous rectangles of computers, tablets and smartphones. The layout is more or less organized chronologically starting with the first World Cup 1930 in the top left corner, reading from left to right and top to bottom culminating in the World Cup 2014 panel on the bottom right.
A re-formatted color version of the cover was created for Italian Illustration Society ILLUSTRI. The presentation of the following icontypes are in their original colored versions.
With the World Cup Cover Josimar were able to add 40 additional pages of editorial content for print and digital.
Role: Design, Illustration, Art Direction
Client: Major League Soccer
In collaboration with FutbolArtistNetwork I art directed, designed and helped develop an officially licensed limited-run Soccer emojis app for Major League Soccer.
Below are selected samples of the Portland Timbers, La Galaxy & New York City FC emojis pack. Emojis are available for all 20 MLS teams and FAN also has licensing rights for the U.S. National Team.
I designed the emojis to mimic the MLS brand guide and reflected the use of the 45 degree angle throughout. I also designed a mascot (unused) - its head based on the MLS crest and body shapes to reflect the angles used in the MLS crest.
Role: Creative Direction, Illustration, Art Direction, Design
Client: Major League Soccer
I was commissioned by Windows to brand the sponsored MLS All Star Game 2014 booth in Portland. The primary asset is an illustration honoring fans, repurposed for each corresponding MLS team to be displayed in the Windows booth.
The secondary graphic is a set of minimal MLS logos used to brand shirts, bags, hat, food trucks & pedicabs.
In addition, I worked with chainsaw sculptor Bob King to create a center piece sculpture in honor of the two teams playing in the main event; MLS All Star vs. Bayern Munich.
Role: Creative Strategy, Design, Art Direction, Brand Management
Client: Relevant Sports Group
Established in 2013, The International Champions Cup (ICC) is an annual club association football exhibition competition. It features club teams from Europe playing pre-season friendly matches, originally in the United States and Canada, but in the years since also in venues in China, Australia, Mexico and across Europe. It is owned and operated by Relevent Sports Group which since has also launched the Women's International Champions Cup Tournament and International Champions Cup Futures Tournament.
As part of the Relevent Sports Group Creative Team I worked closely with agencies Doubleday & Cartwright & Center on the newly 2019 launched brand identity, creation of a robust visual system and its application across various marketing collateral including Digital, Social, Print, OOH, and On site Events.
Logo Design: Max Amato, Pete Freeman
VP Creative: Mark Lowyns
Creative Direction: ALEX CENTER
Typeface: SAM BUMBALO
Logo Sculpture: DANIEL ARSHAM
Trophies: ÉPICO Studios
Role: Illustration
Client: Arsenal Football Club
I worked with creative agency TheCreativeArms & Arsenal Football Club to create a series of portraits for web/print promotions for the Emirates Cup in July 2017.
Portraits were used across all platforms in advertising; print & digital including banners, newspaper ads, digital promotions and lcd screen ads in shopping centers
Role: Art Direction
About 52 Shades of Greed
In 2012 I art directed & designed a project called 52 Shades of Greed; a fully illustrated deck of playing cards about the Wall Street Crash & Occupy movement featuring 28 artists, and the 99%.
About Alternative Banking
Alternative Banking is a group of people who are disturbed about the current state of finance and financial regulation. Many of us have experience or expertise in the financial industry and are all-too-familiar with the way that the industry exploits “dumb money” and manipulates financial regulation to its benefit. We are open to everyone who would like to understand what has gone wrong with the banking industry, Wall Street and the political and regulatory process and work to fix it.
About the Artists
The 52 Shades of Greed art directing team, Marc Scheff and Daniel Nyari, are NYC-based illustrators who wanted to create a unique collaboration between illustrators of all stripes and levels of fame to say something important about the world. They believe that illustrators can be teachers engaged in politics and social welfare. They believe that we can become more than individuals and more than servants to other peoples’ messages. They gathered an art team from all over the world to contribute to the 52 Shades of Greed project, and could not be more pleased with the result.
Adam S. Doyle
Alex Fine
Chi Birmingham
Chris B. Murray
Corinne Reid
Daniel Nyari (Art Director & Designer)
Denman Rooke
Dobot (Logan Faerber)
Eric Fortune
Gloria Pizzilli
Hyesu Lee
Jess Worby
John Lee
Jon Burgerman
Jonathan Calugi
Justin Volz
Kyle Smart
Matt Rota
Marc Scheff (& Art Director)
Martin Wittfooth
Michael Marsicano
Mikkel Sommer
PJ McQuade
Skip Sterling
Stephanie F. Scholz
Steve Simpson
Tim Paul
Vicky Yarova
VISIT 52SHADESOFGREED.COM
Role: Art Direction, Event Branding, Marketing, Strategy, Production, Illustration
Clients: MLS, EA, Alcatel, World Soccer Shop
EA Sports x Seattle Sounders XBox
EA Sports commissioned me to Art Direct a custom Xbox Case for the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer. My role was to conceptualize and lead the product development and launch of the custom case. I worked closely with artist John Zylstra who provided the case art.
World Soccer Shop x Landon Donovan x Nike
FAN was commissioned by World Soccer Shop to customize a pair of Landon Donovan's Nike Soccer Cleats to commemorate Donovan's final game for the US National Team. Donovan ended his illustrious international career on Oct. 10, 2014 in Hartford, Conn. I worked with artist Chris Murray who hand painted these cleats capturing Donovan's incredible accomplishments like the MLS Goal Scoring record of 143 goals and US Soccer All Time Goal scorer with 57 goals.
Alcatel x MLS
I worked with Major League Soccer partner Alcatel for a series of emoji style portraits which were printed out and distributed to fans on matchdays in local markets Seattle, New York & Los Angeles for the team home games.Additional portraits were done for the 2017 All Star Game in Chicago. Fans were able to take photos of/with the print-outs and post them on their social channels with the corresponding hashtags #AllInForGalaxy, #AllForSeattle & #AllForMLS
