Highway28

UTEP Invitational

2011-04-01T00:32:00.001-05:00

I was recently asked to develop the artwork for UTEP's annual Track & Field Invitational. HT event not only allows the Miner's world-class athletes (national & world champions, record-holders and Olympians) a chance to shine at home, but it also brings in some of the top track and field talent from around the world.

I wanted this year's branding to reflect some of the facilities' unique architecture in light of the many renovations that were made to Kidd Field, the exclusive home of UTEP Track & Field since the 1960's. Also included in this illustration are hints of the mountains surrounding the stadium as well as El Paso's famous rays of sun radiating behind Holiday Hall.

The design is not only being used as the primary branding for all print and web materials, but it is being used for participant and commemorative fan apparel as well.

Nightmares & Nocturnes-UNLV Wind Orchestra

2011-04-01T00:14:00.003-05:00

For those of you that don't know me very well, before I was involved in marketing, design and athletics, I started out college majoring in music with a double emphasis in voice and percussion. During that time I met some impressive individuals, including a young composer named Justin Raines.

Last week, he and the folks with the UNLV Wind Orchestra were in a bind getting their print piece/poster produced for the upcoming world premier of Justin's, "Nightmares & Nocturnes". Justin put out a call for help on Facebook and I was more than happy to lend my talents.

Justin wanted a visual that invoked an eerie sense of mystery. He asked for a closet door in a room, with an iridescent light shining out from underneath with the hint of a shadow to a mysterious something lurking from behind. His piece presents haunting melodies sprinkled with peaceful nocturnes and musical statements that present a strong contrast to his 'nightmares'.

I wanted the image to pull the viewer in out of curiosity but repel them at the same time due to the unpleasantly dingy appearance of the room.

Building the Poster-11x17 Promotional Poster
I started with just the distorted picture of the door in the dark room.

I then tried to establish the lower plain line by putting down a hardwood floor (the floor would later disappear under the lightburst, but hey, it's all about the attention to detail.) creating a layer with a small box with white fill and outer glow to mimic light shining from under the door.

I then created a light burst and manipulated the angle to appear as it too was coming out form behind the door.

I then used and online image of a man standing in dress shoes to create the illusion of the person behind the door. I duplicated the mirror and flipped it to create a mirror image casting the shadow through the light from under the door. I then manipulated the perspective of the legs and feet so they appear to be stretching out toward the viewer, fading into the darkness with a mask.

Hope you enjoy may latest, non-athletic creation. I know getting back to my roots was a pleasure!

National Girls & Women in Sports Day 2011

2011-02-11T18:49:00.000-06:00

My goal here was to create something sporty that still had a sassy-feminine feel to it considering the majority of our target market for this event was going to be young girls under the age of 18.

Pack The House 2.0

2011-01-20T20:42:00.000-06:00

My second year at UTEP has gotten off to a busy start, and quite honestly a majority of my time has been spent on the back end of things actually planning events and working game operations. Took a break this evening to design the 2011 UTEP women's basketball 'Pack the House" poster (11x17)

Hopefully, I'll have more to show you soon.

Don't Stop Believing

2010-12-04T00:26:00.000-06:00

A buddy of mine from California was upset with the lack of wallpapers for his computer of his beloved World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. After MINUTES of his pestering I gave in and put this together. had fun using some of the new CS5 features, mainly content aware.

Final 2011 C-USA Tournament Logo

2010-12-03T23:47:00.000-06:00

Welp, it went a few more revisions after it was designed, but this is what the FINAL 2011 C-USA Tournament Logo wound up looking like. There was a lot of things that the torunament organizers wanted reflected in this logo, I'm just glad I was able to give it to them!

El Paso Rhinos

2010-12-03T23:44:00.000-06:00

This is the 2010-11 schedule poster for El Paso's own Hockey Team. I'm sure it goes without saying that this project was very fun! :-D

Commercial: MBB UTEP vs NMSU

2010-11-19T13:11:00.000-06:00

2010-2011 UTEP Rifle Poster

2010-09-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

One of our senior staff members came to me telling me how in the past, the department neglected to put out a schedule poster for our rifle team. I really did not know how to approach this project not being well-versed in competitive collegiate rifle.

A stupid mistake on my part lead to me having to re-design the entire poster. Things must happen for a reason, because not only did this version come out better, but I believe it is my best Design at UTEP to date, and arguably one of my best overall!

2010 UTEP Volleyball Schedule Poster

2010-08-18T18:32:00.000-05:00

After much trials and tribulations, the 2010 UTEP Volleyball schedule poster is complete and ready to go to print.

I really wanted to incorporate design elements from the campus' rich Bhutanese-influenced architecture. At both the top and bottom of the design, ceremonial mandalas sit subtly while a band of brick stretches across the length of the view. Finally Prayer flags flank this year's senior class.

I personally think it is the best thing I have ever designed. Your thoughts?.

Reaching out to our Military

2010-08-10T15:15:00.000-05:00

We are so fortunate to share our city with Ft. Bliss. On September 25th, we'll be honoring the brave men and women who serve to protect our country with a special Military Appreciation night as UTEP Football battles the Memphis Tigers.

UTEP SOCCER POSTER PREVIEW

2010-06-29T00:54:00.000-05:00

Last week while at NACMA, I started working on the 2010 UTEP Women's Soccer poster. We had some issues with the photos, but after some work in Photoshop, I feel comfortable with what we ended up with.

Anyone else catching World Cup fever?

2010-06-12T17:15:00.002-05:00

El Paso wins bid for 2011 Conference USA Basketball Championship

2010-05-21T13:45:00.000-05:00

Back in March, I pitched two concepts to the UTEP athletic administration for potential logos to put an identity to the city's bid for the 2011 Conference USA Basketball Championship. I'm proud to say that UTEP, the City of El Paso and the El Paso Sports Commission used one of my concepts in their successful bid to bring the 24-team event to the Sun City.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm going to be very excited seeing this around the conference and city!

Catching up with UTEP

2010-04-30T15:38:00.001-05:00

I've been so busy lately, I haven't really been able to add some of my most recent design work for UTEP on here. This is only a small portion of two months worth of design work.

FREE MMMMMMMMMMMMMINER WALLPAPERS!

2010-03-11T23:11:00.001-06:00

In honor of UTEP's CUSA 76-54 MBB quarterfinal victory over Central Florida, here are some free UTEP Wallpapers!

TO DOWNLOAD:
Click on each image (1280x1024's on top) (1024x768's on bottom). When it opens in a new window, right click and Save As. Then, set as your desktop!

Creative Invitations and Balloons I Las Cruces, NM

2010-03-11T17:05:00.000-06:00

I recently had the sincere pleasure of working with the great folks at Creative Invitations & Balloons in Las Cruces, NM on establishing their brand identity. If you have an upcoming special event, Patti and Mike are the area's leading specialists on invitations and balloon creations! You can call them at 575.526.3343 if you would like to see how they can make your next event extra special!

Turnkey Contracting I San Antonio, TX

2010-03-11T16:52:00.000-06:00

Turnkey Contracting is a new venture from my friends at TC Austin Realty Advisors in San Antonio, TX.

UTEP Women's Basketball Senior Night

2010-03-11T16:42:00.000-06:00

This is a splash page I made for http://www.utepathletics.com to create buzz for women's basketball final home stand of the season where we honored the teams three seniors.

El Paso Bids to Host the 2011 CUSA Basketball Championships

2010-03-11T16:35:00.000-06:00

The El Paso Sports Authority, Convention and Visitor's Bureau and UTEP are working tirelessly to get the 2011 Tournament here in the Sun City. I figured a logo might help the selection committee visualize it a little better!

2010 UTEP Championship Logo

2010-03-11T16:26:00.000-06:00

I designed this logo to be used on all departmental materials related to UTEP's 2010 Men's Basketball Conference USA Championship.

We are the Champions-UTEP Edition!

2010-03-08T15:34:00.001-06:00

I have been super busy lately, but I am very happy to be a part of UTEP's 2010 Conference USA Championship season! Here is a digital billboard I designed that's going to be used around El Paso!

Down in the west Texas town of El Paso...

2010-01-21T11:59:00.000-06:00

...I'm getting settled in with my new GA gig at UTEP. While most of my friends and family are still overcome by the initial shock/disgust of me going from crimson-blooded (NM State) to orange-blooded (UTEP), I am settling in pretty well and having fun as a Miner(Both working and as a grad student).

I had my first design assignment with the program helping design a "Pack the House" promotional poster for their 2010 women's basketball event against SMU.

I'm trying to grow as an athletic designer, and I think this project really shows some progress from some of my last assignments.

It's not easy being green...

2010-01-03T22:09:00.000-06:00

First post of the new year so here we go!

My old boss at TC AUSTIN in San Antonio contacted me a while back to help brand a landscaping company that is going to fall under their umbrella. Their initial direction was limited, but they wanted a strong image that was going to emphasize the 'green' aspect of their business.

They asked for a few more designs for a few more projects, those will come shortly.

On to the Next Adventure!

2009-11-24T21:16:00.001-06:00

CONGRATULATIONS TEXAS STATE VOLLEYBALL! If you weren't in San Antonio on Sunday backing the Bobcats, you missed a great performance as the team took it to Stephen F. Austin to secure a 3-1 victory for the SLC title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

As promised, here is a preview of my last design for Texas State Athletics, as my last day will be tomorrow. I'm really happy with this design, I think it keeps continuity with my other fall championship design, and reflects everything that this program is about!

My time at Texas State was amazing and I am glad I had the honor of helping propel the program into a higher level of competition. I look at the growth that the department has achieved in the last year and I can see how I grew with it, both professionally and emotionally. I'll always remember the great students, friends, administrators and fans I had the chance to build friendships with, and I'll always be proud to say that I was a Bobcat.

Good luck to the Bobcats in the NCAA tourney next week, and don't forget to Eat 'Em Up!

Pack Wacker Time!

2009-11-10T20:24:00.005-06:00

Huge game this weekend vs No. 10 McNeese State. Winner of this game gets the Wild Card TV game next week and comes one step closer to the Southland Conference title!

I helped the Texas State Student Foundation come up with a design for their '09 'Pack Wacker' shirts. All of the proceeds from the sale of the shirts go to scholarships for student leaders. As a former student leader, I know how much those scholarships are needed when you're putting a ton of work in to making your school a better place.

I tried to dress it up a little bit for posting on the 'ol blog.

I do have to say, I am rather proud of myself for making the rendering of the new West Side Complex in Illustrator! It was a major challenege, and in the end, I am happy with how it came out!

Texas State Football is rolling along!

2009-11-09T00:56:00.000-06:00

Here is the new txstatebobcats.com splash page that will be up this week to greet fans who visit our site looking for info about the big game this weekend vs. nationally-ranked McNeese State for control of the Southland Conference and the automatic post-season bid.

You have no idea what a relief it is to be involved with a program that has a team that closes the deal!

That's not a stab at my Alma Mater, but for the first time, I witnessed 'my team' claw their way to a victory with only moments left in a game to seal the deal. It was such an AMAZING feeling!

We're going to be pushing hard for a sell-out and then some this week. Expect a few surprises!

Another Championship year

2009-10-28T16:20:00.000-05:00

Texas State Soccer has already clinched at least a share of the conference title, so we diecided to make some championship shirts so we could give them out to the team come their final home contest this Friday.

I decided to use a sillouhette of the buildings around the field, because they're a picturesque backdrop and major part of our field's atmosphere.

Final Men's & Women's Basketball Posters (I think?)

2009-10-20T13:36:00.003-05:00

After much vision and revision, here is what i think will be the final versions of the 09-10 Texas State MBB & EBB Schedule Posters.

MBB on Deck

2009-10-15T19:04:00.001-05:00

Was struggling to get the MBB poster draft together, but in the last hour or so, things just started falling in to place.

Keeping the continuity going!

Remembering a National Championship 50 years later

2009-10-09T09:38:00.002-05:00

This year Texas State will be honoring their 1960 NAIA National Championship team. I put this together yesterday so we could have a commeorative graphic to honor this accomplishment all year long.

2009-2010 Texas State Women's Basketball Poster

2009-10-02T01:55:00.003-05:00

(NOTE: This is the First Draft)

There was a lot of hassle getting the pieces I needed together to make this poster happen, but my vision came together fast and I finished the entire concept in just under 4 hours.

More Wallpaper!

2009-09-30T17:49:00.002-05:00

New Wallpapers for txstatebobcats.com

2009-09-29T20:18:00.002-05:00

The webpage was needing some newer wallpaper with the updated brand content. What do you think?

Remember, remember the Fifth of September...

2009-08-30T18:03:00.004-05:00

I've been working all summer on a branding campaign with Texas State Athletics that helps create a sense of not only continuity, but excitement for the many changes taking place.

The University is seeing unprecedented growth on all fronts, and Athletics is leading the call.

As part of an 11 week advertising series that kicks off this week in the University Star, Texas State's campus newspaper, we will highlight different facets of the program that give fans an in-depth view of what is going on inside the department with a collectible poster series sponsored by Grande Communications.

This is week One.

What if El Paso hosted the Olympics?

2009-07-09T16:43:00.002-05:00

I think this is what their logo would look like.

I used a series of golden stars that join to make a sun--the symbol of the great Sun City.

The image invokes somewhat of a Mexo-Indio feel reminiscent of the natural cultural representations found in the area.

TXST Baseball Championship Design

2009-07-05T22:52:00.002-05:00

I didnt get around to posting it before, but here is my design for this year's baseball conference championship shirt.

Latest Identity Work

2009-06-08T00:40:00.003-05:00

Here are some projects I am currently working on:

Kyle Doperalski is a good friend of mine, and an up and coming collegiate athletic sports broadcaster based out of Las Cruces, New Mexico. He was named top national volleyball broadcaster in 2008 by the AVCA for his radio and television play by play.

Kyle wants something that is modern utilizing his alma mater's colors. The 'signal icon' is a bit overdone right now, but I couldn't think of another way to get the 'broadcast idea across. Any thoughts?

Beasley, Mitchell & Company LLP is a CPA firm in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The firm’s services include accounting, taxation, business consultation, litigation support, and estate/gift planning. They are looking at revitalizing their image in the market, and they asked me for some help.

Primarily, BMC wanted to update the firm logo. They’ve added some younger partners in the last few years, and they have been told their image is still old-school. They asked me to give them a mark that would liven-up their promotional materialand add a more modern feel.

Thks4theMmrs!

2009-06-08T00:30:00.004-05:00

This was a great year for Bobcat Baseball and Softball! Two conference championships, a trip each to the NCAA tournament and a long list of conference awards.

I'm not a huge fan of the "Baseball & Softball" being left-justified and aligned with the "Texas State" wordmark, but that was the consensus of how the group wanted it.

Some old Twitter Backgrounds

2009-05-11T23:00:00.005-05:00

I think Twitter is a pretty fun way to communicate with a captive audience. I think it gets even better when you can brand that communication with a nice clean look. Here is a background that I used for Texas State Athletics.

Note that it gives some great information on contacting the department for tickets and such. The more exposure the better!

The second is for a fan page for the Crossmen Drum And Bugle Corps in San Antonio. My buddy is their tour director and I am a big fan myself having marched in a corps in 2001.

I wanted their name to be prominent plus i wanted their symbol 'Bones' to be slightly visible in the corner--paying tribute to his mystic essence and shrouded appearance throughout the corps' decorated history.

Give them what they want...

2009-05-11T22:51:00.003-05:00

I caught wind that some hardcore fans really liked the concept of a campaign the Red Sox did a few years back that asked their fans to 'Believe".

The design utilized the team's signature "B". They asked for someone to mock it up using Texas State's "B", I figured it would be fun to give the fans something that helped them express their excitement for this year's baseball season.

Wrap up and Preview

2009-05-11T22:47:00.002-05:00

We added this 'thank you' page to our website that thanks our fans for their support this season in helping both teams earn a regular season championship.

I wanted to include elements that will help us transition into next week's page, and a list of all of the championships we won this year.

WEEEE ARE THE CHAMPIONS....AGAIN!

2009-05-11T13:51:00.007-05:00

Here is the design that I designed for the 2009 Softball Conference Champion t-shirt.

The turnaround time on this piece was small at best, as I had very little time to work on a design on top of some other major projects going on at the time.

It reminds me of a Transformer's head. What do you all think?

Our 2009 Season is just around the corner!!!

2009-05-07T10:12:00.003-05:00

It's time to start building up the excitement for our 2009 season!

This is a splash page that is going up on TXSTATEBOBCATS.COM in a few weeks, but it really captures the visual identity that we are going to take for the 09-10 campaign. I wanted to go for that epic look. For some strange reason, most TXST fans don't really get excited so the task at hand was to create a campaign that stimulated their desire for a top caliber team. As the defending conference champions, they definitely have the ability, now I am trying to give them the look!

The season tickets for football are complete! Here are the flats that will be sent to all season ticket holders in a few weeks!

More to come as pieces become available!

Take a listen to the...

2009-03-06T23:28:00.003-06:00

A new feature at Texas State Baseball and Softball games is the Cat Pod. Our staff pre-selects music and asks the crowd to pick their favorite from three songs played live during an inning transition with their applause.

A few innings later, we play the selected song in it's entirety to the delight of our fans.

I developed this graphic for our video director and he did a great job of animating it and putting it on our video boards.

More Texas State Designs

2009-02-09T17:37:00.006-06:00

Tidy-ing up TC Austin

2009-02-03T22:57:00.004-06:00

My old boss needed some help with a one page document that they wanted ted to add some flash to. After many tries, I think this beats a word document.

The New Gig

2008-11-18T17:30:00.009-06:00

I haven't had a chance to post in quite some time, as I have been rather busy with my new job at Texas State University. On top of getting back into the trenches overseeing various sports for the department, I have also been given the keys to the creative department.

The images above reflect some examples of graphics, shirts and web banners I have designed since here.

Tid Bits

2008-07-18T00:52:00.004-05:00

I wanted to create some conceptual work for my portfolio, so I came up with these three ads for businesses back home; Memorial Medical Center (a local hospital), La Posta(one of the most popular restaurants back home) and the El Paso Symphony Summer Keyboard Series(a mythical concert series that is held in the summer to help promote their new Arts district.)

TidBits

2008-07-07T19:50:00.004-05:00

I was going through some old files the other day when I came across some slides I had done for a marching band competition I had made for my old university last year that were used on the stadium's video board.

I remember the band director telling me they didn't really have a logo, so they gave me free reign as to what to get up on the board.

In the style of Drum Corp International (the NFL of Marching Pageantry [dci.org] ), and considering the target market(12-18 yeard olds and the occasionally obsessed band parent.), I came up with this design.

Here are a few notes i sent to the band director:

I thought of this shield logo, to kind of serve as an all-purpose brand for the event. Not only could it be used for all media materials, but for apparel and merchandise as well. I thought a neat idea from a recruiting standpoint, would be to highlight different landmarks on campus: a windmill from the Ag College, Skeen Hall, The Old Campus Gates, Memorial Tower, Goddard Hall, and of course, the flagpole from Pride Field.

Instead of plain Crimson and White, I utilized some of the color palette from the university branding scheme to make it all really pop. Finally, I used the official university logo.

Good ol' Big Papa

2008-07-07T19:29:00.007-05:00

NEW:

ORIGINAL:

I finally got around to taking my logo designs to the owner of Big Papa's last week, and he gave me some constructive feedback as to what he did and didn't like. He wanted the look to be a little more 'Polynesian' and was worried that the original character I used, might be perceived by some of his regulars as too 'self-glorifying.'

He really liked the detail-work in the tribal aspects of the design, so I extended that concept in the little Maori warrior. I used a different font in the verbiage to give it more of an organic look--something the owner was looking for.

Let's see if he likes the revisions.

Maid Service Logos

2008-07-01T08:58:00.003-05:00

Here is some logo development I did for a local maid service.

Their clientele consists is based in some of the most affluent neighborhoods in San Antonio.

They asked for a logo that reflected an elegant and established personality using shades of pink and black.

Favors can be fun

2008-06-25T01:06:00.007-05:00

8.5 x 11 Cover of Brochure for Aggie Winnder's Circle Registration Mailer

Last Friday, I received an e-mail from a friend back at New Mexico State needing some serious help on putting together a pamphlet that was going to be sent out to boosters for a 2008 football campaign.

He was given a large amount of content and told to make it look "exclusive". I set the document up in In-Design as a four page 8.5x11 spread. I was able to fit all of the content on three pages, but I needed something for the cover.

Thinking the Boosters might appreciate some type of commemorative collateral piece, I designed this layout with NM State standouts Chase Holbrook( No.12) and Chris Williams(No. 28).

Bases loaded--top of the ninth.

2008-06-23T22:57:00.006-05:00

17" x 22" Team Poster NMSU Athletics
I was coming up with a big "goose egg" when it came to trying to deliver a design for this project.

Enter Wade Gubbels--first year marketing intern. We hammered this out in about an hour just bouncing ideas back and forth at each other just shy of the deadline.

It's all about the family!

2008-06-23T22:43:00.002-05:00

We were really trying to crack into a new audience by appealing to families. A new ticket price system was helping, but we needed something that was going to get the attention of the target market.

With a little help from one of the Mouse-House's big current-hits, we saw a surge in attendance up to 1,500 as the Aggies faced defending-conference champion Boise State.

Men's Basketball is here!

2008-06-23T22:24:00.004-05:00

I was going for simplistic on this as a foil from the visual overload you normally get from a team poster. I wanted it to be all about the players and coach.

The white back drop was especially hard, in that we couldnt find one anywhere in town big enough.

In this great image by Rebecca Craig, your looking at about six, 9-foot table clothes taped to the wall and floor of the PanAm Annex lobby.

Women's Ball

2008-06-23T21:00:00.003-05:00

Here is a mock up for a billboard we used to advertise ticket sales for NM State's women's basketball program. Off to their best start in 10 years, the Aggies went into conference play with only 3 losses and the first victory over in-state rival New Mexico in over 10 years.

Photo by Rebecca Craig.

Aggie Men's Basketball Season Tickets

2008-06-23T16:17:00.001-05:00

Photo by Rebecca Craig.

Covered in Crimson

2008-06-23T16:13:00.004-05:00

We used this graphic on NMStateSports.com and Facebook.com to spread the word for the Crimson Campaign against UTEP.

Here's to another year of Aggie Domination

2008-06-23T15:56:00.002-05:00

How about them nationally-ranked Aggies? Photo by Rebecca Craig.

More Aggie Football

2008-06-23T15:45:00.004-05:00

This year the Aggies had a legitimate chance at having not only a winning season, but going undefeated at home for the first time since 2002. We came up with this concept, but it never went to print.

What to expect in 2007...

2008-06-23T03:52:00.004-05:00

A conceptual piece for New Mexico State Football. Photo by Rebecca Craig.

Mr Big Shot

2008-06-23T03:23:00.000-05:00

The university's switch-a-rooney with the mascot attracted some attention from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

This appeared in their February 2nd, 2007 Issue:

New Mexico State University

Mascot: Pistol Pete

What's happening: After a five-year break, the mascot is packing heat
again.

The details: Apparently the 10-day waiting period is up for the Aggies'
rough-and-tumble mascot, Pistol Pete. After the terrorist attacks of
2001, the trigger-happy mascot laid down his guns. When the university
redesigned him in 2005, the now-clean-cut cowpoke wielded a lasso
instead of his characteristic smoke wagons. In an area famous for its
gunslingers (Billy the Kid was sentenced to death in nearby Mesilla),
the decision didn't sit well with students.

"It almost seemed like they didn't realize what sort of an emotional
connection there was for students, the alumni, and the community with
the old mascot," says Aaron M. Villalobos, a student at the time who is
now a university spokesman.

The new mascot is a product of discussions with marketers as well as
local rodeo riders about authentic cowboy wear. The new Pistol Pete is
a student in costume, sans foam head, and most importantly, well armed.

How exciting! My first job, and I've already been quoted in the Chronicle for Higher Education as a "University Spokesman!"

Fixing the Pistol Pete debacle of 2005

2008-06-23T02:27:00.000-05:00

In the Fall of 2006, I took a great job with the New Mexico State Athletic Department.

One of the first things I asked to tackle was what I called the, "further development" of the doomed school mascot. A redesign in 2005 left the market less than happy with the "Lasso Larry" mark that replaced the shared "cowboy" logo from Oklahoma State.

The re-design of the physical mascot's costume (pictured between the old and new marks), was extremely popular with students alumni and the community. Working with New Mexico graphic artist Richard Evarts of Artesia, we collaborated to transition the lasso mark to a pistol mark.

I felt it was important that the overall integrity of the mark stayed intact(we left the original wordmark in place). After all, we wanted some consistency in the brand which had been working for a few years already. I didn't want to have to start from scratch.

The final product was the result of about 15 re-designs, consisting of 10-12 different representations of the mark each time(Poor Richard worked his tail off.)

The new logo was debuted on some thermal mugs at the Men's Basketball home Opener against Pacific. People were thrilled to see the Pistol back in Pete and a new star was (re)born!

While I was at it, I got the green light to develop our logo and brand portfolio a little more. I'd have to say the biggest contribution was the "Aggie Country" mark. I was trying to think of a way to represent not only a physical place, but the state of mind and special place in every "Ag's" heart. I wanted a mark that would be on signs in people's front yards--"Welcome to Aggie Country," and in the form of rear windshield graphics on the army of suped-up pick-ups camping out in the Ag School parking lots.

It racked my brains for a few days, but finally I decided the mark should somehow include the majestic Organ Mountains which many an Aggie grow to love(and miss), even years after they are out of Las Cruces.

The rest was as easy as laying some text over it. We have a winner!

Finally, I wanted to create something that utilizing the essence of New Mexico. The debacle had turned a lot of people off to the athletic/mascot mark and merchandise was not selling very well.

What single part of New Mexico culture could we use to represent the institution while appealing to a variety of markets?

California has the bear. Texas has the Star. As for New Mexico? They have the Zia.

As a test run, I had a local seamstress create a 5x7-foot New Mexico flag fielding the school's colors instead of the states traditional royal red and gold. We threw that puppy in the student section at the football game against the University of New Mexico and they couldn't get enough.

I used the crimson sun symbol and gave the rays a liquid look. Making sure it had some legs outside of the local market, I used the standard"Aggie" font to splash "New Mexico State" across the front to identify the brand.

NM State Homecoming 2006

2008-06-23T00:58:00.001-05:00

Straight out of college, I was approached by the New Mexico State University Alumni Association about developing the official logo for their 2006 Homecoming festivities.

Partnering up with the X Prize, an international space flight competition held in the LAs Cruces area annually, 2006's celebration would highlight southern New Mexico's contributions to the space race.

Interim director Nicole Shoup's request was two-fold:

1) Create a primary text logo that would be easy to reproduce in a wide variety of mediums.

-and-

2) Use that logo in conjunction with a vivid image for collateral materials and collectible merchandise.

The primary focus of the print is the transparent "X"(X Prize) logo faded over a multi-color gradient that parallels the area's signature sunsets.

Anchoring the image, and serving as a solid canvas for the event logo, is a blacked-out layer grouping of the Organ Mountains east of campus, and Goddard Hall--seat of NMSU's Engineering Department and one of the campus' signature facilities.