2017 USMNT Gold Cup Campaign (Champions)
Summer 2017, the US Men's National Team competes amongst other teams in the Americas for the Gold Cup. Ahead of their first game, we launched unprecedented jerseys featuring navy blue and bold red striping with white stars patterned within - a unique take on the classic 'stars and stripes' notion of the American flag. A nod to the unique jersey design, we decided to model our entire Gold Cup branding to be cohesively the same ranging from in-stadium prints, digital promotions, billboards, social media, local advertisements, and beyond.
After beating Jamaica 2-1 in a tense final in Santa Clara, Calif. the champagne corks were soon popping as the men danced the night away to celebrate the USMNT’s first trophy since their Gold Cup success in 2013.
After beating Jamaica 2-1 in a tense final in Santa Clara, Calif. the champagne corks were soon popping as the men danced the night away to celebrate the USMNT’s first trophy since their Gold Cup success in 2013.
Roles: Creative Direction, Brand Strategist, Photographer/ Editor, Graphic Designer
Light/ Dark Kit Launch & Branding Campaign
In collaboration with the design team over at Nike, we designed the "Light/Dark" kits for the U.S. Soccer Federation to wear for the following year in 2018.
A stylized version of the American eagle, complete with 13 stars representing the original 13 colonies, forms a unique pride graphic inside the 2018 USA light jersey. The stripes shift from red to blue, and the diagonal flow of the blue forms an abstract sash, a subtle ode to a regular design element in U.S. kits throughout the ages.
“I love how patriotic it is. It’s bright and makes a statement,” U.S. WNT forward Mallory Pugh said of the USA’s new light kit.
While the inspiration of the light kit is grounded in the familiarity of our flag, the dark kit reflects the excitement of embracing the unknown through a gesture to space travel notable in the inner pride badge, which features a custom USA icon inspired by NASA Space Mission badges, and sleek, negative shaping of the shirt’s stripes.
“The kit is so unique; there is nothing out there that looks similar. I love the blue kit, it’s so clean and crisp,” U.S. MNT forward Christian Pulisic said.
My roles: Creative Direction, Brand Strategist, Photographer/ Editor, Graphic Designer
Once the design was complete, it was time to photograph the players wearing the new kits.
Providing art direction to our photographers and instructing players on specific poses, our small team developed a large library of player assets to utilize in graphics for the duration of the Light/Dark campaign.
Pulling from our new asset library, I strategized how the kit design would extend and scale, supporting the U.S. Soccer brand. My goal was to create and implement a bold, modern, aggressive, and timeless visual appeal that would elevate U.S. Soccer's presence in the sports industry.
Providing art direction to our photographers and instructing players on specific poses, our small team developed a large library of player assets to utilize in graphics for the duration of the Light/Dark campaign.
Pulling from our new asset library, I strategized how the kit design would extend and scale, supporting the U.S. Soccer brand. My goal was to create and implement a bold, modern, aggressive, and timeless visual appeal that would elevate U.S. Soccer's presence in the sports industry.
Borrowing signature patriotic elements from the kits, the adjoining branding was utilized for all digital graphics, social media, in-stadium graphics, merchandise, and large-scale prints such as billboards.
Generic kit promotions were advertised on U.S. Soccer's social media, website, email, and printed billboards around the country. The image above is a composite from multiple photoshoots that bring the team's top three players together (Lloyd, Morgan, Rapinoe). The graphic additionally promotes the innovative kit material created by Nike.
As part of our strategic marketing plan, I created player-specific graphics to send to every player (150+) to post on their personal social media accounts.
Bringing the design elements from the kit into the graphics: implementing a new branding for U.S. Soccer, seen below for live in-game graphics for U.S. Soccer's social media. These two games (MNTvPAR and WNTvMEX) were the first games that the new U.S. Soccer kits were debuted for the Men's and Women's teams.
While the Light/Dark kits wouldn't be the official kit the U.S. Women's team would wear during the approaching 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, it was the kit we needed to use to promote our qualification, and countdown campaign leading up to the global tournament.
The Future is US.
The U.S. Men's National Team failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup – contributing to the lowest viewership in decades and a significant drop in youth sport participation. How do we inspire a new generation to lead American soccer forward into glory?
To show our fans and supporters that we, as a federation, were taking the necessary steps to rise from the ashes, we hired a new coach and training staff and invested in the next-generation pool of our young, up-and-coming players.
Adjacent to the staff and player changes, we created a moonshot and invitation
to all Americans to take part – by tapping into the essence of American values – grit, audacity, and innovation – led by the daring nature of youth.
to all Americans to take part – by tapping into the essence of American values – grit, audacity, and innovation – led by the daring nature of youth.
"The Future Is US" was built on a theme of hope and optimism, with a focus on the idea that the U.S. Men's National Team was transitioning into a new era. The message conveyed that the team's future was in capable hands and that the development of young players and their potential to succeed on the world stage mattered most.
Targeting Young Talent – The campaign highlighted the rising stars of American soccer, featuring young players such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Josh Sargent, and Tyler Adams. These players were seen as the future of U.S. Men's Soccer, and the campaign aimed to inspire both them and the next generation of soccer players across the country.
Cultural Shift – The campaign was not just about the team’s performance on the field but also about creating a cultural shift within American soccer. It aimed to engage a new generation of fans and players who were growing up in a more soccer-conscious culture, with increased exposure to top European leagues and international competitions. By centering the narrative on youth and development, the campaign aligned with U.S. Soccer’s broader goals of growing the sport at all levels in the country.
Visual and Messaging Elements – The campaign was visually striking, combining bold typography, vibrant imagery, and a cinematic tone. The visuals often focused on young players in action, alongside messages that underscored the country's soccer evolution. The branding included elements of brush strokes as if to signify sketchings of an early blueprint. "The Future Is Us" sought to define a new era for U.S. Soccer. It was a way of resetting expectations after the disappointing World Cup qualification miss and positioning the national team as a work in progress, one that would eventually reach greater heights as its young stars matured and gained experience.
Cultural Shift – The campaign was not just about the team’s performance on the field but also about creating a cultural shift within American soccer. It aimed to engage a new generation of fans and players who were growing up in a more soccer-conscious culture, with increased exposure to top European leagues and international competitions. By centering the narrative on youth and development, the campaign aligned with U.S. Soccer’s broader goals of growing the sport at all levels in the country.
Visual and Messaging Elements – The campaign was visually striking, combining bold typography, vibrant imagery, and a cinematic tone. The visuals often focused on young players in action, alongside messages that underscored the country's soccer evolution. The branding included elements of brush strokes as if to signify sketchings of an early blueprint. "The Future Is Us" sought to define a new era for U.S. Soccer. It was a way of resetting expectations after the disappointing World Cup qualification miss and positioning the national team as a work in progress, one that would eventually reach greater heights as its young stars matured and gained experience.
Legacy and Influence – In a broader sense, the campaign reinforced the idea that U.S. soccer was looking ahead, to a future where the country would regularly compete at the highest levels of international competition. The emphasis on youth and their potential had an aspirational quality, encouraging fans to be patient and supportive as the team rebuilt.
July, 2017
Social Media Graphics Revamp
Objective: To review U.S. Soccer's current social media graphics and templates used for Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook and create more modern, bold, impacting graphics that would elevate the U.S. Soccer's presence and brand on digital platforms.
Provided: Photos
Outcome: While staying on brand and not making too large of a jump, created new social media templates that were more modern and appealing to today's audiences by using on-trend photo filters along with simplified compositions - graphics that compete with other top sports brands on the digital platform on social media.
Tools used: Adobe Photoshop
For all social media graphics, please refer to my profile on Gondola
December, 2017
Objective: Announce the upcoming game against Denmark to the Public.
Provided: Photos from games/ photoshoot.
Outcome: Created short campaign of consistent graphics featuring two players advertised on multiple platforms for web advertisements, social media advertisements, as well as various other promos.
Tools used: Adobe Photoshop
October, 2017
Objective: Develop a Veteran's Day T-Shirt.
Outcome: Conceptualized a T-Shirt that didn't follow the typical Army camo pattern that majority of other sports teams so often do. My team and I saw the opportunity to do something different that is inclusive to all five U.S. Military branches, as well as standing out from other sports teams. So often other sports teams use the Army camo pattern and the design gets too busy. We wanted something simple, bold, and impactful. Which is why we came up with two different versions - one with simple Military green, and the other using our American flag.
Tools used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
July, 2017
Objective: Develop a creative, engaging, and under-budget way to respond to fan mail sent to our HQ.
Provided: Images of players
Outcome: Created a large poster featuring U.S. Soccer's most recognizable, current players to send back to all the fan mail we receive. We receive fan mail to both the Men's and Women's teams and it made the most sense to create a poster featuring the Men's players on one side, and the Women's players on the reverse side.
Tools used: Adobe Photoshop
Corporate Sponsorship Graphics
Objective: Re-create social media graphics promoting the upcoming U.S. Soccer game to give to our corporate sponsors to repost. Previously what was given to all of our corporate sponsors was simply a short image of supporting text followed by our crest and their logo (example below).
Provided: Photos of players
Tools used: Adobe Photoshop
Outcome: In an effort to lift U.S. Soccer's branding to the next level, while staying within graphics standards and quality graphics, we created templates to send to corporate sponsors for them to drop their logos into the specified area on each graphic. Sponsors will use the templates to post on their social media platforms, ensuring consistent visual quality messaging.
The examples below are templates of what we send to our corporate sponsors for them to drop their logos into the specified area on each graphic.
Corporate Sponsor Graphics Previously
Corporate Sponsor Graphics Revamped
August, 2017
Objective: Create awareness and buzz around the final 16 teams in the U.S. Lamar Hunt Open Cup tournament - the largest tournament in the U.S. that any team can enter (professional, semi-pro, recreational)
Provided: Background image
Outcome: Created graphically appealing match up templates and a bracket for the remaining 16 teams to compete for the Lamar Hunt trophy to be published on Social Media, and later posterized for clubs who wanted to display it in their stadiums
Tools used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Below is other miscellaneous projects/ content