NFL SUPER BOWL LV
style guide design, fabrication, and application
NFL Super Bowl LV is a massive world wide event and this was my first time working on such a big scale. Design begins years in advance. I was brought in right after the main theme was chosen making it easier for me to dive right in and start building and expanding the concept. The working theme was “Storm the Beach” and I’m extremely proud I was able to bring in a lot of personal hand drawn touches to many apects of the style guide to give it the gritty pirate texture we were going for in Tampa Bay. I’m also really proud of those hand painted vector embers - they were no small challenge. I worked on the entire graphics package of patterns, textures, wordmarks, logos, key art and credentials.
Theme Art was its own beast. When we began designing we weren’t in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic. By the time SBLV actually came around it was just barely 2021 and we were still in the first year of it. We had been through a lot by that point and all of a sudden this gritty, smoldering aesthetic didn’t seem right to hang the hat of our Key Art on. Taking inspiration from the 9/11 theme art used for SBXXXVI, we too wanted to pay tribute to the heroes of the past year. The idea was that we wanted everyone to share in the celebration of making it this far, and that we were all in this together. My original sketch had the reflections of frontline workers, doctors, and teachers, but we decided on hand written thank you notes on pieces of the iconic & unique Super Bowl trophy shaped confetti.
Credentials are a necessary part of any event and the Super Bowl has no shortage. They’re not always sexy and often overlooked or forgotten. There are still opporunities to do something interesting. No detail is ignored. My one regret is that this was the “pandemic super-bowl” and so few people actually saw it in person, including myself. Desipte having been so heavily involved in the creation of this Super Bowl’s style guide, I was not permitted to attend.
