How one of my designs ended up on official NFL merch
I still can’t believe this happened.
I’m so excited to be sharing a story time on the blog today. This is everything that led to one of the biggest collaborations of my career happening…
April 2020
It’s the big lockdown. I'm a fresh graduate who is struggling to get a job and in the meantime, working on building my graphic design portfolio. I created an Instagram to have somewhere to post this work, practising in Adobe so that I can apply for a job after the lockdown lifts.
One of the programs I was practising in was Indesign, I was playing around creating a magazine from my trip to Shanghai the previous summer.
August 2020
After the lockdown, I never applied for a job and instead kept pouring into Instagram. I had received messages from people needing design support and had built a wee bit of momentum. I had decided to give myself a year to try and make this business happen.
In August, I received this email… One of the projects she had seen was this ‘Shanghai coffee table book’.
Quick side note - post the thing online, you literally never know who might see it.
December 2021
I just finished designing a book!! This was genuinely such an incredible experience. The book launched as a limited edition and was stocked in Barnes and Noble and featured in Architectural Digest - crazy. I've created a reel here that shows some of the process.
June 2022
One of the ladies you featured in the book was looking for a designer and we got connected.
Alexis is a deaf civil rights attorney, thought leader, world changer, and a super-inspiring human being. She is also the CEO of a jewellery brand called @lovesign, which spreads awareness for ASL.
In 2022, she collaborated with the movie CODA, which then went on to win an Oscar. Alexis was asked to design merchandise to be stocked in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA.
She reached out asking if I could create a custom illustration for her brand that could be used across the merchandise.
So we worked together and refined this beautiful love symbol pictured here until it was perfect. The merch was stocked and successfully sold out.
August 2023
What happened next was all on her. She took the symbol and went on to partner with NFL and create their first official line of merchandise to feature American Sign Language. The mission of the collection was to celebrate the diversity of the NFL fanbase and the beauty of ASL. Since then, they have gone on to release a range of merchandise.
AAAAnd that is how one random post from an unemployed girl led to her work being featured on NFL merchandise
So three key takeaways…
Keep posting, keep showing up, you literally have no idea who might see it.
You never know what is right around the corner, keep going!! Your biggest business win or project to date could start tomorrow.
Play the long game - good things take time. Momentum compounds.
