The opportunity to work at Major League Soccer was a dream come true. As someone who attended Dallas Burn games at the Cotton Bowl in the early 2000s, joining a company that provided me years of entertainment was profound.
My main priorities for the position are to implement fast, strategic, and efficient design methods while maintaining and creating engaging content both branded and non-branded.
When joining the league, I noticed our design relied heavily on grit and grunge. Being that that style is something I enjoy, I fell hard with this position. Working alongside other designers, we continued to implement high contrasting colors with grunge textures. This design promoted something different from the typical sports meta. Here are a few examples:
Upon finding a style I felt personally comfortable with, I was able to create content at a rapid rate. In my position, my goal was to assist both social and editorial (and the commissioner, Don Garber) with their graphical needs. Whether that be updating photography or creating new graphics, I needed to create designs that were visually interesting, eligible (with proper hierarchy), and most importantly, timely.
This meant templates were created ahead of time. Many of those were created in ways that would be easy for non-Adobe users to edit themselves.
However, not everything could be templated. For instance, in a recent match, Cade Cowell scored an unbelievable goal. However, we wanted to highlight it in a different light. The image would be used for both our Youtube and website. I had to think quickly on my feet and create something that was visually eye-opening. You can see that example and many more here:
Another facet of the job was staying on brand. Being that we are a league that works with many sponsors. It is appropriate to properly integrate their designs. One of our main sponsors, Heineken, supported our recent ‘Rivalry Week.’ This meant all graphics would encompass their green and red logo. Being that MLS uses Blue and Red in its logo, we had to improvise beyond our current design. That meant retaining our grunge and textured style and combining it with green to create a familiar yet new graphic.
Other companies and tournaments we worked with their branding include All-State, Body Armor, Audi, Leagues Cup, and more. Here are examples:
