Makers of Sport® Podcast

“You should start spending a half-hour a day learning Cinema 4D to advance your design repertoire. It's not hard, it will make you better.”

ESPN College Football, Mike & Mike, NBA on ESPN, the 2014 World Cup—do these brands ring a bell? Our guest this week is Tim O'Shaughnessy, broadcast art director at ESPN, and has worked on graphics packages for each of these TV brands.

We discuss Tim's undergrad degree in psychology and how it aids him in his work as an art director and empathizing with his intended audience or designers he art directs.

Music is an art that influences many designers. Tim is no different. We chat about why designers tend to either be musicians or appreciate music so much, including recognizing creative patterns and applying them to their own work.

We touch on the trend of amateur animaged GIFs in college sports and what makes an actual "animation" vs. turning off a layer in Photoshop.

Lastly, Tim gives us deep insight into some of the processes the broadcast department uses at ESPN including working with agencies or freelancers, rendering matte paintings, developing an overall vissual language for a show or event, animation engines & software being used, as well as the behehmoth of a project he worked on with LoyalKaspar for the new ESPN College Football motion package which is up for an EMMY.

Mentions include:

• Tim on Twitter
• Tim's website
• Chris Radcliffe Photography
• Cinema4d
• Chin Wang, ESPN Magazine Creative Director
• Episode 24: Chin Wang
• ESPN Front Row article on 2014 World Cup
• 2014 FIFA World Cup Crest Animations
• 2014 FIFA World Cup Rombus Flag Animations
• 2015 ESPN College Football Animation Package Reel
• ProximaBDA article on ESPN College Football rebrand
• Jordan Giesler, Kansas City Chiefs
• Brian Gundell

My next guest is going to be Sloane Kelley, Senior Director of Content for the PGA Tour. Sloane has an extensive agency background and has been with the PGA for 3 years. She recently spoke at SXsports on VR and golf.

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You can also show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

“The best designers are always problem-solvers...[our] job is to figure out how to make this [project] the best it can be.”

On this week’s podcast, freelance sports designer Brian Gundell joined the show to discuss his career working in a few different limbs of the sports industry. From agency side to Nike to the MLB to college football recruiting, Brian has an varied history in this niche of design.

Brian touches on the importance of SportsLogos.net to his entry into sports design, as well as the importance of networking and building relationships with folks in this very small industry.

We laugh about the ridiculousness of college football recruiting graphics and Brian elaborates on this newest position for designers in sports.

Lastly, we touch on the lack of upward mobility in college sports and Brian leaves us with some insight into his move to full-time freelance.

Mentions include:

• Brian on Twitter
• Episode 52: Chris Creamer of SportsLogos.net
• Episode 67: Aaron Masik, Upper Deck
• How Magazine
• Print Magazine
• Smashing Magazine
• Old Hat Creative
• Episode 13: Kris Bazen
• Episode 11: Adam Clement, Under Armour
• Todd Van Horne, Nike
• Episode 8: Darrin Crescenzi
• Episode 44: Torch Creative
• Episode 37: Matt Lange, Alabama Football
• Episode 58: Surf Melendez, Miami Dolphins
• Jon Willey, Miami Dolphins
• Brandon Moore, Miami Dolphins
• Episode 57: Ashley Strauss, Tennessee Titans
• Sammy Silverman, Ohio State Football
• Alex McLeland, STN Digital
• Boyd Erickson, Arizona St.
• Create Legal

My next guest is going to be Tim O'Shaughnessy. Tim is a broadcast art director at ESPN where he has worked on motion packages for brands such as ESPN College Football, Mike & Mike, NBA on ESPN and the 2014 World Cup to name a few. Some of Tim's work can be seen at his site here.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers.

You can also show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

“You can always learn from anyone — you can learn from people older than you, you can earn from people younger than you — always be open. Always be open to critique.”

On this week’s podcast, Mekale Jackson from St. John's University athletics joins us to discuss working for New York's college hoops program.

Mekale gives us some insight into his background prior to St. John's where he discovered graphic design & Photoshop in college as an English major at the University of Michigan by stumbling across a fraternity flyer.

Detroit, Mekale's hometown, is a place of inspiration for creativity and art despite the negative stereotypes the Internet & media says about the city and Mekale shares his love for the city with us including a few fav artists he follows.

We also discuss Under Armour's relationship with St. John's basketball, its value to the school for recruiting and brand recognition, as well as that one time Steph Curry practiced in their facilties.

Lastly, Mekale explains why he chooses to self-brand himself as a "sports creative director" rather than a graphic designer or sports designer.

Mentions include:

• Mekale on Twitter
• Mekale Jackson's website
• Episode 3: Jason Fierman, LSU Creative Services
• Justin Bua, artist
• Block Nation, Detroit artist
• Kenneth Cole
• Mekale's blog
• Brands Win Championships
• Episode 66: Jeremy Darlow

My next guest is going to be Brian Gundell. Brian is a freelance graphic designer in Portland, Oregon. Prior to joining the freelance ranks, Brian had stints at Old Hat Design, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the University of Washington football program.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers.

You can also show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

“When you get to work in pro sports, these players are their showcase...the message, putting people in the seats, getting people interested in the team and buying merchandise comes before cool graphics.”

On this week’s episode, Aaron Masik joined the podcast. Aaron is a senior graphic designer at The Upper Deck Company. Prior to Upper Deck, Aaron had stints in-house at the San Antonio Spurs and the San Diego Padres before making the move into consumer products.

We discuss Aaron’s big break into the sports industry, what it’s like working in a consistently winning organization such as the Spurs (including an interaction with Coach Pop himself), as well as the differences between working with the NBA versus the MLB.

We touch on some of the pain points working in sports as a creative person and have a very real & raw conversation on the frustrations that are prevalent when one makes the decision to work in team sports; including the way our personal and career values change over time and how sometimes it might be best to move on.

Lastly, Aaron gives us some insight into working at Upper Deck as we discuss design & printing processes, timelines, as well as the passion of the sports collectibles industry and how it has had a reawakening.

Mentions include:

• Aaron on Twitter
• Aaron on Behance
• Austin Spurs identity
• MLC Connect
• Episode 42: Chris David Garcia
• Todd Radom on Twitter
• Episode 4: Todd Radom
• SportsGeek podcast
• Beckett
• Dan Simon, Studio Simon

My next guest is going to be Mekale Jackson. Mekale is the Associate Director of Athletic Communications for St. John's University in New York City. In addition to St. John's, Mekale freelances for numerous univerities including his alma mater, the Michigan Wolverines.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers.

You can also show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

"Everyone is trying to find their own 15 minutes online with their channel...it's not about that 15 minutes, it's about that 15 years and what are you doing right now to build something that lasts..."

On this week's episode, Director of Brand Marketing for Adidas Football & Baseball joined the podcast, Jeremy Darlow. Jeremy is also the author of the book Brands Win Championships.

Jeremy brings a psychology background to the world of branding and gives us some insight into how important it is to build a brand and tell your story over the long haul, including digging into your brand's past.

We touch on how a smaller athletic program can use the same principles as big schools to build their brand and how sometimes being "second best" isn't so bad in the world of marketing.

Lastly, we discuss the importance of design in the world of branding and more specifically, why design deserves a role at the executive level on teams and in college athletic departments.

You can buy Brands Win Championships here.

Mentions include:

• Jeremy Darlow on Twitter
• Brands Win Championships
• Michael Bierut, Pentagram
• What Makes a Truly Great Logo via Vox
• Texas A&M Icy-White Uniforms by Adidas
• Makers of Sport Community

My next guest is going to be Aaron Masik. Aaron has extensive experience working in team sports with stints at the San Antonio Spurs and the San Diego Padres as a designer. Most recently, he moved to the consumer brand side as a senior graphic designer at Upper Deck.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers or show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

The Internet has given us an uncanny ability to connect to others that share our passions in different regions of the world.

Joining online communities is vital for networking purposes, cultivating relationships and professional growth.

It has been a long time coming, but today I'm excited to announce the launch of the Makers of Sport Community.

Benefits include: Halftime episodes (all will be accessible to community-only from this point forward), transcriptions of those episodes, monthly Google Hangouts, private Q&As with future & former guests and an invitation to the Makers of Sport Slack channels.

Support the podcast by joining today.

Mentions include:

• Slack
• Halftime: Cultivating Relationships
• Halftime: Working Remotely
• Twitch
• Under Consideration's Brand New
• SportsLogos.net
• Seanwes Community

My next guest is going to be Jeremy Darlow. As digital brand marketer for Adidas football and baseball, Jeremy works with numerous college athletics programs around the U.S., including some professional Adidas athletes such as RGIII and Lionel Messi. He is also the author of Brands Win Championships, a book educating college athetic departments on the importance of brand strategy and marketing.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers.

Support the podcast by joining the community.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

"There's a lot of talented people out there. A lot of smart people. A lot of great writers. A lot of great editors. You gotta work... [Ben on side projects & growth]."

On this week’s episode, it's basketball, sneakers and hip-hop as Ben Osborne, Editor-in-Chief of SLAM Magazine joins the podcast.

Having been a subscriber of SLAM since 1994, Adam geeks out with Ben on the founding and history of the magazine, as well as how it worked to gain credibility in the world of sports journalism.

The two discuss the publication's swagger and its role in pioneering sneaker culture. As well as SLAM's long-time existence as a thorn in the NBA's side as it regards to portraying players as who they are, rather than who the league wanted them to be leading them to many epic cover shoots.

Ben elaborates on his role as Editor-in-Chief, design's importance to the magazine and Adam even reads a letter he wrote to the magazine that was published in 2006 reflecting on how SLAM shaped much of who is he today.

Lastly, Ben discusses some of his many side projects and how important it is to have such creative outlets.

Mentions include:

• Ben Osborne on Twitter
• SLAM Magazine
• SLAM on Twitter
• Scoop Jackson
• Dennis Page, SLAM founder
• Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports
• Michael Bradley, SLAM writer
• Lang Whitaker
• Russ Bengston, SLAM writer
• Ryan Jones, former EiC)
• Melissa Brennan Medvedich, former creative director
• Kicks
• SLAM Kicks book by Ben Osborne
• Swee' Pea Daniels Documentary

My next guest is going to be Jeremy Darlow. As digital brand marketer for Adidas football and baseball, Jeremy works with numerous college athletics programs around the U.S., including some professional Adidas athletes such as RGIII and Lionel Messi. He is also the author of Brands Win Championships, a book educating college athetic departments on the importance of brand strategy and marketing.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

The world is about relationships. Plain and simple. We have relationships with family, friends and even objects.

In our professional lives, building relationships are vital for growth both fiscally and skill-wise. In today's Halftime, I discuss why cultivating relationships over time is extremely important and why the "hard sell" is a downfall of creatives in the digital economy.

Mentions include:

• ENFP Personality
• Richard Branson, Virgin
• 8 tips for relationship building in business
• Slack

My next guest is going to be Ben Osborne. Ben is the Editor-in-Chief of SLAM Magazine, a longstanding basketball publication that has cemented itself in basketball and hip-hop culture since the early 90s.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

"I take a lot of pictures...I think for designers, drawing and taking photos is so, so important because you can go back to those photos and find some inspiration and find some great idea."

On this week’s episode, Michelle Cruz, Senior Art Director of the New York Red Bulls, joins the podcast to talk about her long career in sports design.

Being Puerto Rican born, yet raised as an Army brat in Germany, Michelle brings a unique perspective to sports design drawing inspiration from her time in Europe visiting art galleries and watching BBC and Spanish television.

We discuss Michelle's long tenure at ESPN as a broadcast designer, creating 1000s of broadcast graphics, some of which are still in using today and working across multiple sports such as Nascar, Cricket, Soccer, the NFL and the NBA.

Michelle gives us some insight into the difference between a motion designer and an animator, and touches on the breadth of work she worked on when she first to moved to NYC to become an art director for the New York Knicks.

Lastly, we discuss Michelle's time at Red Bull, the pressures of creating for one of the most creative brands on the planet and what it's like working for a consumer brand that owns multiple teams.

Mentions include:

• Michelle Cruz on Behance
• Alex Mount, NFL
• Alex Mount on Makers of Sport
• SCAD
• Ford F-150 spot on YouTube
• Se7en title sequence
• Wolff Olins London 2012 case study
• Tarek Awad, New York Knicks Design Director
• Jason Freeman Robinson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Red Bull Creative
• Red Bulletin
• Red Bulls (pro teams)
• The Art of Flight documentary
• Doubleday & Carwright
• Chris Isenberg, D&C, Episode 4

My next guest is going to be Ben Osborne. Ben is the Editor-in-Chief of SLAM Magazine, a longstanding basketball publication that has cemented itself in basketball and hip-hop culture since the early 90s. Having been at the magazine for 9 years, Ben is in charge of overseeing each issue in regards to both content and concept, as well as overseeing the digital brand. I haven't missed an issue since the 3rd publication in 1993.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

Design is about communication. It is about articulating decisions made from a professional perspective in order to sell something, or have a user do something. Other than speaking verbally, writing is the most important skill set to have when communicating ideas or opinions.

On this Halftime, I discuss why the people that are the best at their craft are also good writers and why writing is designing words. In order to be great at what you do, you also MUST be a good communicator. Being able to articulate and construct your ideas in written form are very important to our growth as creatives and as human beings.

Mentions include:

• Slack
• Medium
• Basecamp
• Richard Branson, Virgin
• Warren Buffett
• Jillian Michaels
• Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook
• Dave Ramsey
• Tina Fey
• Mark Ecko
• Jeffrey Zeldman, Happy Cog Founder
• A List Apart
• Jeremy Keith, Clearleft
• Pencil vs. Pixel podcast
• Todd Van Horne, Nike GIG
• Google Design
• Episode 59: Subjective vs. Objective
• Episode 25: Interception Show
• Joe Bosack, Joe Bosack & Co.

My next guest is Michelle Cruz, Senior Art Director of the New York Red Bulls. Prior to the Red Bulls, Michelle spent many years at ESPN as a broadcast designer working on much of the visual work still in use today, as well as the New York Knicks as an art director.

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter for updates, discounts on future products and exclusive content for subscribers.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.