Appalachian State University Projects
Appalachian State was one of the first clients I worked with through Affinity’s college team. They were originally pitched in 2019, and became a client of Affinity not too long after that, and have been so since. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects for them. App State was a bit of a first for me in a lot of ways. They were the first college pitch deck I was asked to create marketing comps for, the first game-day posters I designed for a University, and they were the ones I designed the initial e-blast template, one that has since been adopted for other clients.
AFFINITY NEW CLIENT WEB BANNER (JULY 2019)
Game Day Posters
I very much enjoyed working on these game-day posters, particularly the Black Thursday pieces. Each project came with fairy limited direction and assets, so I had to source photography and other imagery and build out the designs in Photoshop and InDesign. The Black Thursday posters gave me an opportunity to lean into a darker, more Halloween-inspired visual style.
The ESPN College Game Day poster was another fun challenge, as the event had a lot of attention around it, and the show was actually broadcasting from their game. It was important to create something that felt appropriate for the event, while staying within App State’s branding.
2019 Black Thursday Poster v1
2019 Black Thursday Poster v2
2019 White Out Poster v1
2019 White Out Poster v2
2019 New Orleans Bowl Poster v1
2022 ESPN Game Day Poster
Yosef’s Roast Coffee Bag Concept
This was the coffee bag concept I designed for App State. I explored a few variations, including one that incorporated the Yosef mascot, but the college team like this version the best. I wanted the University’s colors to do most of the work here, but added a subtle repeating patter in the background for texture. I also created lifestyle comps using Adobe Firefly to help visualize how the finished packaging could look in the real-world.
App State’s Marketplace Holiday Sale E-blast
I had some previous experience designing e-blasts, including work I did for LaserAway while at Copper Blue Creative, so I felt pretty confident when I was asked to develop an idea for an App State holiday marketplace e-blast. The main challenge with this one was that each section needed to function as a clickable link. Once the design was complete, I had to “slice it up” into individual sections so each image could be linked separately. Other than the individual images becoming clickable when you hovered over them, the finished e-blast maintained the same visual look as the original design.
App State Brand Concepts—New Client Pitch Deck
These concepts were created for the new client proposal deck we used to pitch App State back in 2019. I was asked to develop mockups for potential marketing pieces that would demonstrate how we could extend and promote the App State brand.
Of all the concepts I created for the presentation, the beer cans and gift boxes were my favorites. At the time, I didn’t know much about App State, so I had to do some research—not only into their brand standards, but also into their culture and traditions surrounding the university. That research helped me develop the concepts that felt more specific to the school rather than simply putting their logo on a product.
None of these concepts were ultimately produced, but the pitch was successful, and App State became a client of Affinity later that year. They’ve remained a client since then. I’d like to think these concepts helped show what we could bring to the table.
Mountain Born Logo Concept—App State Wine Program
In 2021, Affinity partnered with a winery in Calistoga to offer a wine program to our clients, such as App State. I was asked to create a logo for the program. I kept the concept relatively simple, combining a silhouette of the Appalachian Mountains with a stylized farm field and App State’s branding. The result was a mark that could work across wine labels, packaging and other promotional materials while giving the program its own visual identity.
