The 2023 Volleyball creative theme was not something that arrived easily. After a meeting with our coaches to decide the tone of the season, we thought we had it. But soon after, we all felt it hadn't really stood out as something distinctive and closely-connected to our team. So it was back to the drawing board: our lead videographer, our chief brand officer, me (the graphic designer) and anyone who wanted to help throwing ideas at the white board until we struck gold. After what seemed like hours of brainstorming, we found it: (Tigers on the) Prowl. Something that visualized our team as a mighty tiger, ready to hunt down an opportunity for greatness.
Now when it came to visual representation, Prowl still had its challenges. The most direct way to attack it was to go the jungle route, with lots of plants and vines and greenery. But many creatives had leaned into this aesthetic for their feline-based teams, and I wanted us to really stand out. Therefore, I pivoted to another jungle– the concrete jungle. Specifically the beautiful graffiti and street art that adorns many buildings and walls. This way I was able to still utilize the jungle looks, but in a way that I could flex my illustrative muscles and create some fun, unique assets to mimic the spray-paint style (more on this below).
While I was excited to implement illustrated elements, I knew I had to do it in a way that didn't require me to create whole new creations every time we needed a new graphic. Therefore, in the weeks leading up to the season, I sat down and drew over 100 assets and color variations to use throughout the season. Having this prepared saved me so much time and allowed me the ability to remix graphics but still maintain consistency throughout. Supplementing the drawings were 3 spray paint textures and 4 illustrated patterns based on the season's theme, in case I needed something more subtle.
As the season progressed and players were achieving career milestones, I had the thought that it would be kinda cool to develop custom patterns that put them at the forefront! If you can achieve 2,000 anything, I think you've more than earned a personalized pattern! So I designed these to order, and utilized them within their milestone graphics.
These assets were an extremely fun exercise in finding ways to do something special without overbearing my time and creative energy. I think it shows how, with some good planning, the possibilities are endless.
As the season progressed and players were achieving career milestones, I had the thought that it would be kinda cool to develop custom patterns that put them at the forefront! If you can achieve 2,000 anything, I think you've more than earned a personalized pattern! So I designed these to order, and utilized them within their milestone graphics.
These assets were an extremely fun exercise in finding ways to do something special without overbearing my time and creative energy. I think it shows how, with some good planning, the possibilities are endless.
Fun Fact: if you look closely at the leaves (besides the one at the bottom right), I hid the words "LSU", "TIGERS", and "PROWL". No stone was left unturned and no leaf was left unbranded!
