2024 NHL Winter Classic
Key Art + Breakaway Event Visual System
Art Direction, Design, Illustration
I approached the key art as a living environment rather than a static poster. The image is designed to feel epic in scale, with Seattle cast as a force defending home ice against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Hand-rendering in the scene allowed me to control the atmosphere and narrative. Rain, water, light, and shadow were all illustrated to ensure the scene felt physically believable, not composited. Every droplet, reflection, and highlight was placed to react naturally to form, gravity, and motion, helping the image feel alive even while completely still.
The composition weaves together visual references from both cities – Vegas iconography embedded into the environment, and Pacific Northwest elements anchoring the scene in Seattle – while keeping the players oversized and in motion, angled toward each other like opposing forces moving through water rather than simply skating on ice.
The goal was to match the energy of fandom – intimate in its references, monumental in its presentation – and to create an image that respected both the city hosting the game and the fans experiencing it.
The moment a direction was established, the work shifted from “key art” to system design. Large-scale events don’t live in one frame. They live across formats, platforms, partners, and timelines. Every element introduced into the composition was designed with that reality in mind.
The final artwork was built to function as complete information across multiple sizes, while also supporting multiple levels of specificity. Player-driven versions, logo-based alternatives, and fully stripped background executions were all planned from the start – ensuring the system could remain intact even if details needed to change throughout the process.
Flexibility was one of my core rules. Every asset needed buffer room, every element needed to be movable or removable, and nothing could rely on a single crop or context to make sense. The goal wasn’t just adaptability, but resilience. No matter where or how the art was deployed, the mood, balance, and intent had to hold.
Behind the scenes, with over 150 assets produced across digital, physical, and environmental applications, every layer was named, grouped, color-coded, and documented. Instructions lived directly inside the files, and individual assets were broken out so partners with varying levels of experience could work confidently within the system.
I approach campaign work assuming the first use case will never be the last. Media landscapes branch, timelines compress, and needs change, and my role is to steward the visual language so it can flex endlessly without ever breaking.
Building the System
Adaptability and Scale
The key art system was designed to adapt without losing identity. Whether featuring players, logos, or fully stripped imagery, each version needed to function as a complete, living piece rather than a downgrade or secondary option.
The primary point of flexibility was the subject itself. Player-driven, logo-based, and fully generic versions were all planned to coexist within the same framework, with negative space preserved at the center to accommodate information when required.
While the Winter Classic key art established the overarching tone, the Breakaway event called for a complementary system built specifically for the on-site experience. The branding leaned into atmosphere, texture, and regional cues, allowing the event to feel rooted in Seattle without relying on key art.
A rotating set of background imagery was developed to anchor the identity in place: the port and waterfront reflecting the city’s relationship with water, fog and dense forest textures nodding to the surrounding landscape, and architectural details from Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project to represent the industrial edge tied to Seattle’s music culture.
The Breakaway wordmark was designed to sit comfortably across both key art and environmental textures. This approach allowed the branding to scale naturally across fences, signage, and event surfaces, balancing recognizability with local character as the event came to life on-site.
Breakaway: Extending the system
Beyond the Screen
The visual system was ultimately realized in physical space – from apparel and environmental branding to live music and on-site installations – where consistency, clarity, and atmosphere mattered most.
