From 2022 to 2025, I led the creative direction for Drake University’s athletics branding across multiple seasons and sports. As the university’s programs gained national attention, highlighted by back-to-back conference titles in men’s and women’s basketball and multiple NCAA tournament appearances, I developed a flexible design system that celebrated the school’s success while elevating its presence on social media. Each year, I delivered a refreshed visual identity tailored to the evolving energy of Drake Athletics.
Client
Drake University
Year
2022-2025
INDUSTRY
Sports
CATEGORY
Branding
CHALLEGE
How do you create a visual identity that reflects a winning program while staying fresh year after year? Drake Athletics needed seasonal looks that could adapt to growing momentum, stand out on social media, and unify a wide range of sports while staying true to the school's heritage and fan base.
STRATEGY
I developed a series of custom, year-specific visual themes designed to evolve with the program’s success. Using a combination of bold textures, dynamic patterns, and the school’s core branding elements, I created high-quality assets that:
Boosted social media engagement and shareability
Offered consistency across all teams and sports
Balanced tradition with modern, competitive energy
Allowed for yearly refreshes without losing brand recognition
Each campaign was built with versatility in mind, ensuring content looked strong across platforms, from Instagram stories to gameday graphics.
REsULTS
The evolving design system helped Drake Athletics build a more professional, polished brand presence that resonated with fans, athletes, and recruits alike. The graphics generated strong engagement on social platforms, with fans reposting and sharing content throughout each season. As the athletic department continued its rise on the national stage, the visual identity I helped build played a key role in enhancing how that success was seen and celebrated online.
2025-26 Season Campaign
This season, I designed a custom photography wall for team media day portraits, serving as a visual centerpiece for Drake Athletics. The wall was utilized by all athletic teams and quickly became a signature backdrop for recruit photos and social media content. My design approach focused on creating a dynamic, collage-style composition that would stand out on social media while providing a bold and engaging visual identity.
In addition to the media wall, I developed a social media template package for home and away games across all sports. The creative direction centered on Drake Athletics’ slogan, “Hometown Team.” The designs feature a silhouette of the state of Iowa paired with Des Moines city map lines to emphasize the connection to the community. I created a range of templates that offered variety while maintaining a consistent and cohesive brand identity across platforms and teams.
2025-26 CHAMPIONS Posters
2024-25 Season Campaign
I designed a comprehensive set of home and away templates for use across all of Drake University's sports platforms. The primary goal was to enhance brand consistency across various sports teams while elevating the visual identity and perception of the brand on social media. The design featured a custom blue and grey gradient utilizing the brand’s official colors, a distinctive blurred typography treatment, and hand-drawn graphic elements to create a dynamic and cohesive look.
Given the Drake women’s basketball team’s notable success over the past decade, they sought to establish a distinctive visual identity that set them apart from other sports teams. With a focus on capturing the team’s grit and tenacity, I developed a design approach that incorporated black-and-white photography, enhanced with gritty textures and strategic pops of blue to highlight key players and pivotal game moments.
2023-24 Team Posters
I created a series of templates and posters for Drake’s football, basketball, and tennis teams, all of which won their respective conference tournaments. The primary objectives were to increase visibility and recognition for the teams, while enhancing the overall aesthetic and impact of the designs. The visual direction centered on Drake as the 'Hometown Team,' incorporating local city elements and a gritty, dynamic style to reflect the teams' resilience and community connection.
2023-24 Drake Basketball Social Templates
2023-24 Drake Tennis Social Templates
2023-24 Stadium Ring
With the increased success and revenue from its sports programs, Drake University invested in a new video ring board for the basketball arena. I designed a versatile template for the board that reflected the season's updated look and feel, ensuring the design was both visually engaging and easily readable for the audience.
2021-22 Season Campaign
Focused on uniting the community through sports, this campaign featured a unique connecting shape pattern paired with a bold use of brand colors. The addition of texture, paired with large type, created a clean look that propelled the campaign to win 'Best of the Missouri Valley' Social Media Campaign and an Award of Excellence at the American Advertising Awards.
