If I asked you to imagine an anthropologist on the job, you'd probably picture an Indiana Jones or Jane Goodall type studying cool artifacts or our great ape cousins in some exotic locale, dressed head-to-toe in shades of beige and khaki. This is how I imagined myself when I started my anthropology degree, booking a plane ticket somewhere far away and traveling to the cultures I wanted to research. I learned two things: the first, that I look terrible in khakis, and the second, that a ticket to a football or basketball game works just as well as a plane ticket.
Somewhere along the path of my degree, as I became more involved in Student Yosef Club and growing our student section, I started finding ways to weave my love of sports into my anthropological research. I could be an anthropologist in the stands with my friends or on my phone scrolling through online message boards and group chats (for ethnographic purposes, of course). I learned to recognize patterns of culture and how cultures form by being in the field* and applying my favorite subject to my most important community group.
Anthropological thinking has sort of infected other aspects of my life, particularly the way I approach graphic design as a form of visual culture. It's not enough to make something that looks nice, or to be able to tell when designs look off in some way. I want to be able to create art that calls to that sense of community that people within a culture share, and I want to understand exactly why other designs are rejected by that community. Anybody can criticize a poor graphic design job on a t-shirt or a social graphic, but I think that working to create branding or apparel that resonates with the cultural values of my clients' target audiences is a much more helpful approach.
I taught myself how to code just so I could share with you some of my favorite research and graphic design projects that I've created!
Arguably the most controversial of my designs, the 2023-24 SYC shirt sparked heated debate about the use of the phrase "Roll Neers" on App State social spaces. While some (non-students) declared that they wouldn't even let their dog sleep in it, a record-breaking number of members received a Michelle Crawford original as part of their SYC packet, and your odds of running into someone wearing this shirt around town are high.
This project took me out of my comfort zone and gave me practice creating and illustrating brand mascots. The client wanted a fun, playful vibe for their new boutique edibles business with a quirky bee mascot to welcome customers to the site.
These are the officially licensed designs for Appalachian State men's basketball sold by House United. I wanted to ask around and see what fans wanted to see since it was a niche that was mostly unexplored, and retro inspired throwback designs were a huge hit. The hat design was inspired by a resurgence in vintage script-style logos (like the script Terps throwback logo), and the shirt was inspired by 80s and 90s sportswear.
These are some conceptual designs that were pitched and for one reason or another weren't put into production, but they're some of my favorites so I wanted to share them! We wanted a design to celebrate our undefeated season at home, and I was feeling a quirky mid-century vibe for our Holmes Court Advantage. House United wanted to do a construction company type shirt playing off of Coach Kerns's signature "Take the Stairs!", and I had fun adding little details to it (the three stars for Tennessee being scattered throughout). The last design is to celebrate App Basketball's "sixth man" and student section, the Mountaineer Menace, and I just love that old-style script.
Coming up with this shirt was so much fun. Joey's NIL shirt has a ton of little personalized details, from his nickname, Joey Cali4nia, to him pointing at the Mexican and Puerto Rican flags symbolizing his heritage, to the faded out Golden Gate Bridge in App State gold because he's from the Bay Area. I wanted to do my spin on those bootleg shirts and I love how this turned out.
This was one of my first freelance branding projects for a local theater community group! She wanted it to feel natural, welcoming, and inviting, with a phoenix rising from the roots.
