My very first sport assignment whenever after joining LSU Athletics was the one and only Swimming and Diving. At the time I thought I would be leaving Baton Rouge after graduation that following May (graduate school would later change that plan), so I wanted to make sure in my short time I left it all on the table.
My biggest goal was to make something so unique and tailor-fit to the LSU Swimming and Diving brand, no one could truly recreate it for their own teams. The biggest example of this was the main font "Bayou Blast," a font that I initially hand-drew and then later programmed into a functional typeface. I also utilized my illustration skills to create a variety of neon lights that mimicked the waves that the athletes made in the water. But even in the non-custom aspects of the look I made sure to have a reason related to our team. Therefore, for the supplementary font, I chose Montserrat. It's a high quality sans serif font as it is, but in this case it was chosen because it shared the name with one of our talented divers, Montserrat Gutierrez-Lavenant. It just felt right!
My biggest goal was to make something so unique and tailor-fit to the LSU Swimming and Diving brand, no one could truly recreate it for their own teams. The biggest example of this was the main font "Bayou Blast," a font that I initially hand-drew and then later programmed into a functional typeface. I also utilized my illustration skills to create a variety of neon lights that mimicked the waves that the athletes made in the water. But even in the non-custom aspects of the look I made sure to have a reason related to our team. Therefore, for the supplementary font, I chose Montserrat. It's a high quality sans serif font as it is, but in this case it was chosen because it shared the name with one of our talented divers, Montserrat Gutierrez-Lavenant. It just felt right!
All these assets worked to create a show-stopping look that highlighted the gritty yet shining team, and one that I'm proud of to this day!
Whenever it came to post-season, I knew I wanted to maintain the elements I established, but do something visually completely different. Since I started with water droplets and neon, I wanted to turn to something more solid and sturdy. This led me to the idea of marble and gold.
Not only were these tough materials, but they also felt regal and reminiscent of Ancient Greek architecture– which was also very fitting, as most of these athletes were vying for the opportunity to represent their home countries on the Olympic stage. And then when it came to competition time, I could easily switch out the metal materials to reflect their actual medal placements. It was a functional, pretty look that built upon its predecessor, and truthfully it's one of my favorite looks I've done!
Not only were these tough materials, but they also felt regal and reminiscent of Ancient Greek architecture– which was also very fitting, as most of these athletes were vying for the opportunity to represent their home countries on the Olympic stage. And then when it came to competition time, I could easily switch out the metal materials to reflect their actual medal placements. It was a functional, pretty look that built upon its predecessor, and truthfully it's one of my favorite looks I've done!
