Excited is an understatement. Jeff Panis (Marketing Director of Innova Champion Discs) reached out quite a while ago when he assumed his new role. A lot of things were on his plate at the time, so we talked briefly and got back in touch a few months down the road. An opportunity was in place to design a commemorative stamp honoring 30 years of the Roc's existence. The Roc has been one of Innova's most popular molds without question. This was a huge opportunity that came with a lot of weight.
In the initial sketches I proposed, there were some good things to build off of. I had awesome friends who helped me out in critique. One of the main things I overlooked that they quickly pointed out was the silhouette strength of the head. My goal was to have this Roc reach a point of near weightlessness. For example, If you stretch your back out in your chair (I do this from time to time) , you arch the back, the chest protrudes out and your chin tips up. This pose is something I tried to capture. As Innova and I progress through the development of the stamp, The head tips back down a bit to give the bird more shape. The wings extend out to give some symmetry to the stamp. The body develops all the way to it's last and final version and the final is the result of of multiple revisions for the better.
If it wasn't for my friends and their fresh eyes to give me critique, the direction of Jeff Panis, Levi Wilcox and the crew to keep pushing this stamp, it would've honestly turned out to be less than what it should've been. What do you all think? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading.
2016 USDGC "Paul McBeth Commemorative"
This stamp is a staple to every US Disc Golf Champion in years past. The following year an artist will be chosen to commemorate the champion on a Collector Roc disc. I was asked this year if I'd like to take a stab at designing Paul McBeth's 2015 win. There will be 700 of these discs made. 500 available to the USDGC Partners and 200 available at the USDGC in Rock Hill, SC. The few limited discs at the event will be an opportunity for McBeth to sign if the buyer chooses.
If you don't know who Paul is; He's the #1 Rated Player in the World, PDGA World Champion 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, 2015 Innova Team Captain, 2015 Grand Slam (All Majors), 3x Memorial Champion, 2x European Open Champion, 2014 European Masters Champion, 2013 Copenhagen Open Champion, 4X National Tour Champion.
Going into this design, I've never been more nervous. Busting out page after page of thumbnail ideas, a couple different directions with the rough phase and then tweaking the final until it was ripped from my hands. I felt that this design, more than anything, could be my biggest opportunity to show what I can do. At the beginning, the intent was to create a design encompassing Paul's Grand Slam achievement last year (5 Major tour wins). So going into it, I initially thought about 5 sided shapes, Paul himself, and something that encompasses the names of the events he won.
The end result doesn't feature what a lot of the thumbnails had in them. The idea to honor McBeth as the 2015 US Disc Golf Champion felt a bit more important and fit with past years winners. Innova previous produced a "Grand Slam" stamp so it seemed fitting to make this a nod to his win.
I want to thank Adrian Southern, Jonathan Poole, DGU, INNOVA and everyone involved in critiques for giving me these three shots at 2016 USDGC artwork. What a ride.
2016 Champion Roc+
When the opportunity comes along, you don't pass it up. Innova gave me that chance by reaching out after the success of the first Collector Roc release just a month ago.
Going into this design, the window was pretty open. The must-have items were "USDGC 2016/ Champion Roc+" I was able to come up with a few ideas on an initial thumbnail sheet that sparked a bit more exploration. Below is the entire beginning to end phase of design, implementation and cleanup.
Thanks to Innova Champion Discs for reaching out and giving me another opportunity to contribute to this year's United Disc Golf Championship Roc releases. The Roc+ art will be available to all Innova wholesale dealers worldwide!
2016 USDGC Roc Contest Winner
My friend, Alec Falzone tipped me off to the United States Disc Golf Championship (USDGC) design contest this year. I would have never known about it. So for that, Thank you Alec. I don't typically do online contests. It's a huge gamble of your time but the flip side is if you're successful, you get your artwork seen by probably the biggest event in disc golf.
The USDGC Collector Roc series craze began in 2001 when Jonathan Poole found that people went nuts over their first Zone Driven Roc that began as a fundraiser for the Southeastern Classic in Charlotte. Jonathan mentions that they "were an overnight sensation, so to speak, and ultimately this paved the way for Innova's CFR program which is still kicking today."
The Roc is one of Innova Champion's most popular discs in its series. They sell these discs for fundraising the tournament each year. A few artists have been a staple to the Collector Roc series. This year, Innova wanted to run a contest to scope out upcoming artist to mix things up a bit.
When you flip through the process shots of the "Air Raid" stamp, you'll understand that this design rooted from another option that I thought was going to stick. The original design felt too confined and awkward. I corrected the anatomy, created a black/white signal effect and tilted the head down 45 degrees. I drew a lot of inspiration from Judas Priests' iconic "Screaming For Vengeance" album cover. It was created by the talented graphic artist Doug Johnson
After talking with Adrian Southern, from Innova, we pointed out the strengths of each initial idea and I worked over the next week to take that head style and place into a new direction. I hope you all enjoy. I want to thank all my friends who've helped critique the design from the ground up. I always appreciate it.
