NFL DRAFT ‘23 - KANSAS CITY
illustration, logo design, style guide development and applicaiton
NFL Draft ‘23 was initially quite challenging but turned so much better than I could have expected. When we activate for an event at the NFL we always try to do something we couldn’t do in any other city. Coming up with an authentic and unique look for KC wasn’t obvious off-the-bat. What I noticed after spending time visiting and researching (besides it being called the “city of fountains” and a curious lack of actual fountains) was that being almost directly in the center of the country, it’s always been a centralized hub for commerce and culture. It’s got deep roots that build up on themselves by the people today keeping it alive. It’s how we landed on this old world brick textured backgounds, bold letter press feeling type, and these freshly painted brightly colored murals over the top. It marries their historic roots with the modern expression you can see in and around the city today.
Mural Illustrations - As we started to lock down the type, we kept refferencing all these murals we saw around the city. They were bright and colorful and were layered right on top older hand painted signs and business. I whipped up a sketch of a Philledephia Eagle to grab that feeling I felt we were missing, and it just stuck. I got the opportunity to go all out and illustrate all 32 teams, plus the logo, and other graphic assets. Which sounds doable on paper, it turned out was alot more work than you’d think in the tight timeframe I had. I tried to make them all as badass and true to the club as possbile.
Other Style Guide Assets and Application - It’s always a ton of work on events like Draft because of all the small pieces that make up the event - then multiplied by 32 clubs. But it’s awesome seeing all the hard work manifest in assets I worked on like the big building hits, city decour, stage design, player walk, down to the BBQ sauce give away. (because OF COURSE we had to include BBQ - it’s KC)