Sunday, mid-afternoon the text came in to start thinking about a stamp. Simon Lizotte had a 2 stroke lead going into the final round. He played out of his mind and was making the proper plays down the fairway and hitting some incredible putts all weekend. We knew the Pixel would be the disc we would run. I took a quick hour that Sunday afternoon while action was kicking off to create a stand in stamp just in case. The initial idea was to keep with the theme of this year and the Les Paul. My initial blocking in was to feature the body of the guitar in simplified drafting shapes.
The decision to go with a “back to back” was universal within the MVP Disc Sports ranks. Sunday night I got on it and started gathering referencing of both front and back of the SG and Les Paul guitars. I used a mix of different library models from Google Sketchup to nail camera field of view. Mainly, it was an excellent resource to help me get both guitars on guitar stands and in proper perspective
The final stretch was adding in a sense of “flow state” which was mentioned quite a few times on the live event broadcast. Simon seemed to be in that headspace all weekend and I wanted to incorporate that element. I used radial symmetry and bolts to add the 2nd foil and consciously used the 3rd foil for the Event/ Logos/ and “Back-To-Back” banner up top. The final stamped product was dressed in dark purple metallic, gold holographic, and brushed silver foil. The custom triple foil stamp took a solid 2.5 days from start to completion.
The concept is pretty straight forward but overall, with the amount of pressure and time to get something to final, I’m pretty stoked on the outcome. Let me know what you think? How could I have done “back-to-back” differently? Thanks for stopping by.
Eagle McMahon 2024 Team Series "Rebirth"
MVP Disc Sports is starting 2024 with some great Team MVP signings. One of them is Eagle McMahon! I can’t say this enough, but it was a team effort to design, film, edit, plan, and execute the Eagle McMahon recent news drop. I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this team we have assembled. Eagle had requested in discussions that his Team Series disc be the Axiom Prism Proton Envy. Prism Proton is a combination of a Proton core with a Prism Proton rim. It differs from the standard stock Proton Envy with its Neutron overmold. It allows light to bounce through and create some remarkable results. The Envy is one of our company's most popular discs, and the Prism Proton Envy is easily one of the most gorgeous Envy’s we have ever produced.
Assignment:
To provide Eagle McMahon with a triple-foil 2024 Team Series design and to have stamped product before Eagle’s arrival at MVP HQ. At age 25, firmly in his prime, He knew this opportunity was the start of the next phase of his career. Those conversations led naturally to the concept of a phoenix, or rebirth. It was the start of something new and exciting. While this was my priority secret assignment, I had to conduct my day-to-day operations as the Art Director of MVP.
Phase 1
MVP/Axiom isn’t known to be a company to release anything bird-related. Where do we start? How can we work within the parameters of the phoenix lore and not create something similar to other disc golf brands? Cybernetic concepts? AI generation? The choice to use an animal has been made and redone countless times within the disc golf space. I relied on gathering references of phoenixes and eagles that displayed strong pose characteristics and unique silhouettes. While in the rabbit hole, I found references to an Eastern-style phoenix-like bird that steers toward ostrich/peacock comparisons. I felt there needed to be a sense of pomp and circumstance/elegance.
Phase 2
I got to work on a few sheets of thumbnails. Listening to feedback from the first thumbnail selection gave me more to chew on going into the second set of ideas. This sheet would land the bones/overall direction of the design moving forward. I brought a rough chosen thumbnail into Procreate and started to figure out bird, text, and logo placement within the stamp. There are standards for the Official Team Series seal with a minimum stamping size of 10mm tall, and I knew from the jump that those were must-haves. Going from loose drawings to idealized structure (mocked onto discs) helps show ratios and how the design feels with the characteristics of the plastic.
Phase 3
I learned a lot about Eagle during this first project. He wasn’t the biggest fan of his name taking up so much space as I initially thought we needed. We opted for a smaller footprint. The head facing to the right side offered the best silhouette value. Overall, leaving the head looking off to the side felt commonplace with the reference I’ve been seeing. Looking upward and straight on felt more engaging and powerful, so I continued with that mindset. We entered a more polished stage. I started thinking about all three foils. Eagle was pretty jazzed, and we all felt this was the final direction.
We were at the 80% mark when I felt the flames didn’t replicate the excitement/buzz going into 2024. In a traditional sense, the vibe fits more with the Eastern/traditional style fire. While working through the final ideas of the bottom stamp rocker, I realized that the airfoil caused by a bird rising from the fire would create a bit more disturbance. Adding more lateral energy helped add dynamics to the bottom portion tenfold.
The Final Phase
The last part to do was to finalize line quality, start placing the assets into the custom template, and work through final line detailing with stamping guidelines in mind. This design had to have little to no issues on the day they tested. It needed to work consistently for whoever was running the stamping machine at any point.
The Eagle McMahon “Rebirth” Team Series discs will include gold holographic foil, red holo foil styles (shatter, dots, and vertical holographic lines), and a black outline. I’d like to thank Eagle for his attitude and pure joy during this process. It aided in the extra hours needed to finish this. I’m beyond excited to see these out in the wild and can’t imagine what 2024 has in store for MVP Disc Sports. I hope you all enjoyed and feel free to ask any questions. Thanks!
Neutron Terra: Special Edition
I had an amazing opportunity to continue the Special Edition stamp from the Electron Nomad landscape. The first stab at thumbnailing wasn’t a success. I had this idea to do a type of spherical projection and had a few concepts based on that. James Conrad had a stamp release previously that someone on the Media Team pointed out that essentially ended that direction. It was time to pull out the wildcard idea that I painted on my iPad and realized it probably wasn’t going to fly. The concept got a positive response from the rest of the team and with a few tweaks, had me sent in a direction on the new set of thumbnails. I wanted to include an anthill monster, the same shrunken protagonist, and a tense moment in the exchange.
During the reference gathering/ idea stage I remember writing down “Terra/ dirt” and it instantly reminded me of Honey I Shrunk The Kids when they see that Oatmeal Creme Pie on the lawn. Choosing gritty texturing for the dirt helped to enhance the scaling. About halfway through, we realized it was hard to distinguish the large ant hill and I chose to accentuate the ant to be the bigger feature in the art. I relied on nuggets from Andrew Johnson our Team MVP Manager to help personalize this Special Edition a little bit more in that final stages.
The artwork was methodically split up to where she, the warrior and “Terra” name were the isolated accent. We chose a nice vertical color transition and it worked really well. The gritty shading layer was allocated with a brushed silver foil to help it work on any core color.
This was one of my favorites from 2021! I had a blast and was super pumped that James was stoked to see it too. I’m glad he trusts us with his signature line to break out of the technical shell sometimes. Since these were special editions, you can find them in the wild. Either online sites like eBay or your local disc golf MVP hub.
MVP Nomad - James Conrad Special Edition
The MVP James Conrad Nomad Special Edition was a unique one. This project kicked off a bit earlier than most people realize. We had James Conrad’s Signature Line Nomads in production before he hit the biggest shot in disc golf (IMO). With that event happening and the surge and interest solely on MVP and their debut of James’ first designed putter; We shifted gears just before going into final stamp design.
First off, this design from the get-go was a collective agreement from the MVP Media Dept. that it should be a cohesive nod to the stock Electron Nomad stamp that was also debuting at the same time. With that, I was able to dial in on the “traveler/ nomad” aspect and reach down into my science-fiction/ dystopian love. I’m one to do extensive research before going into the thumbnail stage. Grand Canyon/ desert paintings from the incredible minds of Mark Maggiori, Pablo Carpio, and Pascal Blanche helped dial in a smooth style with the rock formations and overall composition.
With this project; I knew I wanted to push the limits of our Election stamping capabilities. Although nervous, I knew our MVP HQ stamping team could put their best into making sure these came out successful. It took quite a bit of value painting work to figure out the half-toning fills. I worked back and forth with the inclusion of black within the stamp and found a great compromise of subtracting the would be black line work from the background.
In the end, i’m glad this art was in preproduction before James Conrad flipped MVP on its head. I was able to adjust on the fly and include the Worlds nods relatively easily. I’m glad this went ver so well with James and the pro players he showed during his warmup rounds. That meant a lot.
What did you enjoy most about the Nomad Special Edition?
Raven Newsom - Branding
Raven came to me after the successful 2021 disc golf season. He was in need of a logo to represent himself on tour and have the logo represented on his soon to be need van wrap that was to be produced in-house by MVP’s marketing team. The obvious design decision was to use a “Raven” to create an iconic symbol reflecting his transformation in both maturity and disc golf game. Before that, we had collaborated on his second tour series discs so knowing Raven a little bit through past experience; prepped me before taking on this project.
How many different ways can you represent a raven? I don’t think I reached every one but I certainly tried. You want to reach, try, experiment, and fail. That’s the point of these thumbnail sheets. Move things around quickly. Copy/ Paste and tweak some more. Push an idea until you’re sick of it. Why are you sick of it? Does it have lasting appeal? Move on to then come back again. These are all things going through my head when doing them. Maybe a combination of a few of these ideas will click with yourself and the client.
I make mental notes on sheets if I can’t get on a facetime/ call. Making arrows, anecdotes, and small mental notes of what I was thinking. I understand the symbol speaks itself but some people like to understand the “How” and “Why”. What about these appeals to the designer and why out of all the thumbnails, did we choose this one to present?
Raven was extremely happy with the end result. Quickly turning around clothing with his new apparel sponsor. A vehicle wrap came a few months later with the aid of Michael Ramanauskas. I outfitted Raven with a quick usage guide so he could send to outside vendors for self promotion. Excited to see him out on tour representing MVP Disc Sports and getting to the top of the leaderboard. Raven’s a great person and I respect him a ton. Thanks for stopping by.
Cameron Beck 2021 MVP Tour Series
Cameron Beck is an avid climber and Team MVP member. He approached me this off-season with an idea to marry his love of rock climbing, eco-friendliness into his first official tour series stamp. Some of the proceeds would go to a local course but also support him for the 2021 touring season. I knew just by following Cameron that he spent some time over in France for a short period. Our initial thoughts on the design were to feature the cliff rocks from Étretat in Northern France. That arch is insanely beautiful and the fact that they climb with water below really got the gears going in the thumbnail stages.
I took some time to R&D but I couldn’t get enough reference of someone in the act of climbing that particular location. From there I went to a few ideas that I thought could make for a compelling stamp. The idea of this climber reaching toward a disc golf basket perched high above. It would allow me to encompass disc golf and his love of climbing into one stamp. The thumbnail sheet gave him 3 different approaches we could go with that idea. In the end, we both thought #2 had a creative solution around the center no art zone. It also featured sharp diagonals and great negative space underneath the climber to show the suspense and danger that comes along with sport climbing.
The design, shape, and placement of the rock face allowed the great vertical read from the basket - climber - down to his name in the lower 3rd of the stamp. I really liked how this stamp turned out and appreciate Cameron giving me the liberty to put something together for him.
Marie Curie Eclipse Glow Reactor
I’m working my typical day and the word came down that MVP HQ is experimenting with a new & improved Eclipse Glow blend of plastic with overmolds. With the recent success of the Reactor mold; both ideas hit me at once and we pitched the idea to try Reactors & see how they would mold up. The initial idea for a Glow Reactor Special Edition came in the form of glowing toxic material and powerplants.
Some say it’s not always good to roll with your first idea. We marinated a bit on the qualities of the plastic and used them to our strengths. The natural look of the Eclipse 2.0 blend in the daytime gives off a milky white/greenish appeal. I felt using this opportunity to honor the late Marie Curie and her life as a scientific pioneer. She would be the first woman to win multiple Nobel Prizes in both sciences. She’s also the first female featured in MVP’s Limited and Special Edition scientific line of stamps. We use this platform to give nods to some of the notable humans that have contributed to the world of science. Her magnificent and intense story led MVP down the path to honor her in this stamp.
While diving in and reading about Marie Curie; I jotted a few notes that would aid in design cues and decisions while building the vector art. Marie and Pierre found and named a new element called Radium that was 4x more radioactive than Uranium itself. Long story short, She and Pierre would take the next 4 years to process an incredible 10 tons of pitchblende down to 1/10th of Radium Chloride residue. She was able to give an atomic mass of Radium of 225.9 (226) and place it correctly in the Periodic table. I thought that was a pretty significant number that took an immense amount of work to arrive at. I would later use that number of radial lines from the discs’ center.
I used a variety of images of her from both her early years as a college student and those of her later years to compose a set of thumbnailed ideas. There are era-appropriate shapes and symmetry to really help merge the unique plastic color. MVP stamping and marketing worked in conjunction to test and make the transparent foil worked with the artwork. The molecular compound of Radium is featured as a clear holofoil backdrop that appears a muted grey when illuminated in the darkness. The new 2.0 Eclipse is so bright that the white foil we used allows light to soak through giving even more depth in the darkness. Marie’s pose is intense as in her work. Time is not wasted. Electrometer and infamous MVP shaped beaker are placed behind her. In her lower pocket is a glass tube of Radium. She was known to carry it around in the lab; as she wasn’t aware of the effects of radiation.
In the end, it’s the overall goal to honor a legend in the science field with tact and class. Use the plastic qualities as we did in the 2018 Am Worlds ”Queen Charlotte” and make it feel like it belongs in the lineage of MVP stamps created to honor those featured. We felt as a Marketing Department that this stamp did just that. These Special Edition Marie Curie Eclipse Reactors will be available at most major MVP Disc Sports dealers for a small amount of time. Be sure to inquire about them before they’re gone for good!
Jordan Castro "Castronaut" 2020
Jordan Castro is a new face to the MVP team this year. I was very fortunate to get a private message from him asking if I could help him out and get a stamp ready. Not knowing Jordan personally; I kept asking questions. What is he about? What are his passions? I went to down on a few ideas that would work within the disc template. Let’s just say I didn’t get off to the greatest start for his first Tour Series disc. Jordan is extremely humble, humorous and has an incredible work ethic. I wanted to take some of those traits and relate them to the artwork.
Shortly after the first/second round of ideas, we went back to the drawing board and Jordan hits me up one day and says “Castronaut! Can you work with an astronaut theme?” From then on we were locked in and the project really got rolling. We were lucky that one of the first one or two thumbnails nailed the direction. This straight on astronaut suit seemed to fit the easiest circular composition. I didn’t fully love that his helmet would be stuck to the bottom area of the stamp but you’re limited in some areas because of template restrictions. This layout really opened up the top to celebrate the “Castronaut” title and minimum Team MVP seal standards toward the top of the stamp.
Nailing the likeness of Jordan was extremely tough. The thumbnail gave more of a caricature feeling and I wanted the audience to instantly recognize. It took shades/ no shades/ and a few photo mashup’s to get the eye's and overall expression where I had envisioned it to be. The last phase was polishing up the Castronaut wording and framing by using the Illustrator 3D text tool and adding star bits and filigree to the top portion of the stamp.
All in all, this took a bit more development than I had anticipated. Jordan was awesome the entire way through this process and helped with reference photos and gathering resources where he could on top of his busy schedule. I hope this stamp starts a successful series for him and his years with Team MVP and MVP Disc Sports.
You can contact Jordan Castro on his tour fundraiser discs here!
https://www.facebook.com/jordan.castro.90
"Hold On" Self-Portrait
Wow! Where do I start with this one? Michael “Sully” Sullivan and I have worked numerously on other projects. I was able to help him with his personal Team MVP stamp and multiple Gyroscope designs for the local events he runs with MVP discs. Mike came to me late last year with the idea he had of recruiting artists and just letting them do their thing. Drive home what’s important to them, their particular nuances and inspirations, and seeing what manifests from the idea. Soon enough, Michael was off and running and had me in mind for one of the first chosen artists. I simply couldn’t resist. To have that kind of trust to allow the artist to roll with what inspires them has so far been an idea paying huge dividends.
Why eyeballs and feathers?: I have a deep admiration for my father. He was very young at the time that he and my biological mother split ways. He worked long hours and with the help of my grandmother, took care of my sister and I. You have to be selfless as a parent and I’m learning those things rather quickly. At a very young age; I’ve seen numerous eagle imagery and have been inspired by some of the graphical posters/ tapestries on the walls of our home. While birds aren’t exactly easy to draw, they tend to create some really dynamic and interesting shapes. I enjoy that there are numerous ways to shift the head, body, and talons to create something unique. I chose a bald eagle because of my upbringing, & military service to my country. While it may be some hard times right now for a lot of people in the world and more specifically, within the U.S; I feel the eagle idea hit both a personal side and an aid to a more hidden message of resiliency, being present and educated with what’s going around you. This particular eagle doesn’t have its wings out to slow his movement. They’re fully back allowing less drag. I use these wind tunnel-like lines to accentuate it. This eagle is very much in control.
But Mike… eyeballs?: Eyeballs. What can I say? My love of Rat Fink, skateboard art, counterculture, and the weird. That’s why I love drawing and using them in my personal and professional work (when it fits the project). This eagle could very much rip this fleshy ball of goo with ease but he simply isn’t. I wanted a story and adding tension between the two elements was a starting point. There really aren’t any boundaries except the ones you create for yourself. I love that the most when creating in this style.
Is there a story?: This idea wasn’t there from the project kick-off. It just sort of clicked when pushing the final thumbnail phase. The eagle can symbolize the all-seeing eye. In my piece, the eagle aids the eye to look at the world from above. It would later set the hierarchy for the composition itself. I very much had in mind to bring in Western NY hidden elements. I’m a die-hard Buffalo Bills fan. Having nothing really stopping my personal aspirations, everything sounded like an awesome idea! I relied heavily on my past hot stamp design experience to pump the brakes. All of those elements simply weren’t going read well so they were scrapped. While the project was fully in my hands to do whatever I please (within acceptable reason), the rules of composition, read & graphic nature kept the stamp from becoming a total mess.
The ultimate goal was to create something people would visually gravitate to. While polishing up and choosing, the idea of this giant bird allowing the human eye to see the world from its view, spoke to me. We are still dealing with the COVID-19 virus, inequality, and a country very much in a shaky situation. Is it acceptable in disc golf to talk about these things? Why not? We’re individuals with our own views and ideals. This stamp definitely doesn’t tell you what to think; it says to pull back, look at the world from a different angle. All in all, this project was a lot of fun and something I definitely looking forward to doing again in some compacity. I can’t thank Mike enough for getting it rolling.
Luckily, there are still a few available after the initial pre-order time. Be quick but you can order and support my Self-Portrait by reaching out to Mike Sullivan here:
https://www.facebook.com/Sully68783
Amanda Melwiki - 2020 Team MVP Tour Series
I’ve been working with Amanda Melwiki over the past few years on her Team MVP Tour Series discs. Her pup Charlie would now be the center of focus and Amanda and I welcomed the change-up. The theme for a few years prior has been “Robokitty” and initial thoughts were how to make the larger than life hound, half robot. Amanda was great to send me videos and photos of Charlie. What really sealed the deal to keep it full pet was a video of Charlie playing in & around a sprinkler.
Dealing with a hound type of pup, I wanted to accentuate the ears and jowls. That in combination with that “zoom” effect that dogs get where they run around expelling a ton of energy. They look at you daring you to take the toy from them with a wide-eyed look.
Once the design was in vector, a few hurdles arose that I didn’t see would be a problem in the rough. One instance was where I planned for the center sprue point of the disc to land. This template requires that center area to be clear of any art. The right side just under the nose was going to be that landing area. Doing so in the template left the design to be smaller than desired. To combat that, I had to clear out the left side detail just a bit and compromise on the dynamic overlap of the outer stamp & move the Team MVP seal toward the bottom.
Overall, I think Charlie got the real estate she deserved. Allocating a foil behind Charlie gave the disc color a chance to shine through the pup and evened out the 3 different foil types. In closing, I’m very grateful that Amanda reached out again this year to ask for my help. Her trust and instincts in these designs are really what makes this project fun every year. What did you think? Did I succeed in the playful nature of Charlie? Please comment, like, and share!
Gyroscope 2020
GYROscope is an event ran by Mike Sullivan out of Northern Virginia. The goal of the tournament is to promote MVP Disc Sports, run a fun PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) event and offer a one of a kind disc per event. Last year’s, 2019 think tank produced a handful of ideas and one of those core concepts was reciprocated to 2020.
There’s a dead-center area of the disc that get’s unpredictable with stamping. Because of that reason, designers are faced with working the art around this area. The second thing I noticed is while the concept showed a sense of scale, the gyroscope wasn’t really present. I was more similar to a floating orb and I wanted to change it to a grounded structure. The concept fed off of last year’s Gyromonster theme. The Gyronauts figured out that the Gyromonster wasn't simply exchanging energy for its own benefit, it was taking that energy and spreading it far across the galaxy to an ancient source. This scene shows the travelers discovering the ancient ruin.
The design really only took a bit of 3D staging within Google Sketchup and re-inking cleanup. The gradient effect for the 2nd applied foil was done with a halftone dot technique. It’s the most efficient and practical way to lay down transitions in single color layers. I want to thank Mike Sullivan for the continued support and having faith in me to deliver a quality design. It’s with that confidence, that I’m able to hunker down and come out with something we’re all proud of.
How do acquire this stamp? Reach out to Mike Sullivan through
https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/MVP_Disc_Sports_presents_GYROscope_1_The_Third_Campside_Open_2020/registration
OR
his Facebook page for future releases.
Schrock-A-Doodle-Doo
As 2019 was coming to a close, Tyler Schrock, Team MVP Pro asked me if I would like to do his 2020 Tour Series disc. Working with Tyler is pure joy. He’s kept an animal theme over the past few years that allowed me to do design an octopus and sloth. This year, his idea was a rooster. It turns out that his father was a chicken farmer! He raised chickens for 25 years. So this stamp idea was something he knew his family would love.
This idea started with chicken reference gathering even though I had a good idea of how I’d be able to pull this off. I think the strongest silhouette of a chicken is from the side. It gave me the room in the center of the disc to stay free from any no stamping zones. The chicken mouth action/or spit never made the final. That was an attempt to add that classic “action” seen in cartoons to show loud noises. We didn’t want the chicken looking like it was spitting so it was axed toward the end. The shading detail near the chest add a bit of contrast to show that it’s different color of feather.
The final pass was simply to add body/feather detail and import the consistent ring graphic from last years design. It was important to Tyler to continue that look and feel from year to year. When you display these side by side; it really adds a nice series look to them. I hope you all dig it! Share, like, comment on what you think!
MVP Proton Deflector
MVP Disc Sports Deflector is a midrange driver that they’ve been needing for a long time. It took continuous development to make sure the public got the overstable midrange they were wanting. The wind is no match for this mid and it’s their most overstable in the lineup. Proton plastic adds a bit more toughness to the Deflector mode and introduces some highly visible colors like chartreuse, bright orange, pink and blue.
I approached this Deflector concept by doing research on old tube tv technology. I gathered my pieces of reference on magnetic forces, inner TV diagrams, and previous/current MVP Proton stock stamps. It was my goal to create something that would seamlessly fall into the lineup. No matter how hard I worked to create something unique; It felt a bit too close to Zachary Kelbaugh’s idea for a Neutron Deflector Special Edition set. The other hurdle was the use of 3D. If you look at most of the current stock stamps in the first gallery example; you’ll see crisp line work and believable lit geometry. I used the free 3D program called Blender.
My idea derived from the reference I saw on a circular looking reactor. The MVP Tangent, Axis, Atom and a few others have a common shape appearance; the sphere. Starting from there, I dove into a science fiction “deflection shield” idea. The protected metallic panels would orbit this levitating drone and protect it from the enemy. It was important to keep it very much away from any Pokemon tie in so it remained simple with these 4 supporting braces cupping the main housing. After the scene was lit and materials were configured, I set up a quick viewfinder render and used that as a base for the vector shapes in Illustrator.
The final addition was to bring back in the grids I found while researching deflectors/ TV tech. I felt it fit with the metallic styling of the panels and added a bit more depth to the stamp. I hope you all enjoyed this brief look into the design decisions of the MVP Proton Deflector stock stamp. Leave a comment and please share if you’re willing. Thank you!
MVP Cosmic Neutron
MVP Cosmic Neutron plastic creates some epic swirl patterns that you wouldn’t think would be possible in plastic manufacturing. This plastic was so awesome that MVP Disc Sports created a new plastic line and needed a stock stamp produced for all of it’s models. It was my job to research, design and implement it into MVP’s lineup.
The first design decision was an easy one: MVP’s standard Neutron plastic has this nice center alignment from Zachary Kelbaugh’s original and “New”tron stamp designs. I wanted to continue that nod into Cosmic Neutron. The second idea played off of the center plastic induction sprue. It’s the center of where all of these patterns meet. It felt fitting to hit that concept and start thinking of ways I could create a stamp that would rest in harmony with the beauty of the plastic. This idea sort of camouflages the radiating rays but bolds out the Disc name/ flight numbers/ MVP Orbit logo. This design nearly made it to final. The design was submitted and the die was sent off and created. We stamped Cosmic Neutron Volts and Entropy’s and let it sit and marinate within the team.
In the end, the earlier mock-ups (based on the zoom/swirl pattern) felt too forced and did the exact opposite of what this stamp needed to be. It needed to be bold enough to stand on its own against the Cosmic Neutron swirl but also open enough to let the plastic shine. So with that in mind, I feel very strongly about the concept of our solar system with a modern look/ feel to it. What I liked most is it's based on our solar systems ecliptic plane. The bold lines indicating when the planets are below the sun. It very well fits the Cosmic narrative and gives the stamp substance and reasoning. I would compare stock stamps like creating a company logo. You want something classic that will stick for a long time without updating. Even though the costs are much smaller for a changeover; that’s not really something I’m thinking about when designing.
I hope you’ve all enjoyed this deep dive into MVP’s Cosmic Neutron design process. I want to thank the people and MVP staff who gave me some honest and informative feedback through this process. Without that; I don’t think it would’ve turned out as it did.
What do you all think? Did the project reset improve the overall quality of the stamp?
Axiom Prism Plasma - Stock
The Axiom Discs Prism Plasma plastic brings the shimmering beauty of a core fused with the luster of a candy-like Prism outer rim. In this development blog, I dip my toes into a few decisions that made me arrive at its current design. With pen and paper in my hand; the first thought was how can I get in and get out with the least amount of wreckage?
The plastic combination does the work for you! My goal was to create a non-intrusive 3 foil design that allowed the plastic to speak to the consumer. Axiom branding has dabbled in the Fibonacci sequence, DNA, flying machines and very artistic approach to high-level concepts. I centered this piece on simplicity. The ring uses to shape sequences that follow the 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21 sequence. The design is duplicated and flipped on the opposite side. This creates this really cool halftone fill/ inverted look with the silver holofoil. Again, making this design bleed some of that beautiful, shimmering foil through. The 3 foils break down to Black, Silver holofoil for the ring and color transition holofoil for the Name/Prism logo fill. The font chosen to represent the disc name and flight numbers is Antonio. I wanted a font that was clean with a little bit of height to be legible from a distance.
All in all, sometimes the super simple designs take the most time. I’m glad we stuck to our guns on the outlining goals of this stamp art. It’s simply celebrating the look of the plastic and allowing a stamp to go along for the ride. It also looks really cool spinning through the air.
Stock Proton Pilot
Here it is! My very first complete stock stamp designed from the ground up. It’s a first and I’m super excited on how it turned out. The Streamline Pilot has been one of those molds that has really taken off. Fans of the disc love its glide and super straight flight. It’s a great flyer and I knew early on that this disc was going to be a go to for a lot of disc golfers.
The whole goal in this design was to bring back some of that art deco/ retro futurism flavor that was in some of the earlier stamp designs from Streamline Discs. I really liked what Zachary Kelbaugh did with the Proton Drift and wanted to create something that is vaguely familiar with the consumer. Most importantly, I wanted to reestablish Streamline’s identity.
This is more of a take on the classic fighter pilot but abstract enough to offer viewers an ability to create their own story; their own hero. The intended goal was to create a design that had breath-ability but also had refined class. I found some great inspiration online. The classic silent film “Metropolis” was a huge inspiration and was the backbone of the main center figure. From there it was inserting flight numbers and logos in a way that didn’t feel obtrusive. We went with a silver holographic foil to really embrace that high polish look. I think it worked really well for the candy-like color properties of the plastic itself.
All in all, I’m very happy. I had always pictured my first commission stock stamp going much differently. I had that feeling that it would be so out of the way of how I did things. I don’t think I could have gotten more lucky. I want to thank Brad/Chad and crew for having the confidence in me to deliver.
Streamline Pilot Special Edition
When given the opportunity to revisit a disc called the Pilot; I was all over it. The last time setting foot in the Streamline Pilot universe was for the Electron Limited Edition. That design featured a fearless fighter pilot locking in on his target. This time, however, it was time to step outside of that mindset.
Going into this design, I initially thought about how cool it’d be to take what I did with the Electron design but pump it up and put in a science fiction/ futurism space. I created a ton of thumbnails based on a technologically advanced fighter jet pilot. The thought of holograms or how future pilots would navigate the skies really stuck with me. In the end, we all agreed that while neat; we should create something totally fresh and new for the Neutron line. Those ideas might be revisited so I apologize in advance for not showing them.
I diverted to a Pilot character stepping onto the tarmac. Putting the viewer in the scene of a spacecraft pilot getting ready to debark on his mission. There’s something about showing massive scale between the character and where his attention is. I thought about mission bays, Ralph McQuarrie (prolific Star Wars concept artist) and how effective they were at creating these imaginative ideas. The ending result was a homage to the work that really got my gears going in concept art and illustration. There were numerous Star Wars concept art prints lining the school I was attending. Those pieces made me inquire more about that type of work and motivated me to go after that discipline.
My philosophy is to create these vast landscapes while always letting the viewer to fill in bits of detail. It allows them to create their own story or simply add to it. That’s what this stamp was all about. It was about not strapping down Streamline Discs’ brand identity to a certain period or time but expanding the possibilities heading into the future. The long steam trails coming from the left side of the image is homage to early 70’s fantasy and poster art. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. Feel free to share among your peeps on any of your social spaces.
2019 St. Patrick's Classic
The 2019 St. Patrick’s Classic is a tournament that caught my attention when I started playing competitively. I realized right then and there that great artists are involved with the game of disc golf. Final 9 Sports had a great artist doing art for their St. Patrick’s Classic tournament. I was later informed that artist was Jimmi Myers who has sadly passed away just a few years ago.
A fellow disc golf art talent; Tyler McNair reached out and connected me to Bruce Kinsley who runs Final 9 Sports. Bruce was awesome to work with and provided me with all the past art for this event. This stamp had a huge weight on my shoulders. I wanted to impress the client that grabbed my attention those many years ago. Squirrels, Leprechauns, Celtic Knots and Shady Oaks Disc Golf Course are all many themes that have been done before. The squirrels really spoke out to me. They offered so many stories and are often the innocent bi-standards on the course. I felt like the was the direction we should go.
It took a lot of finessing as you can see from below. I’m just glad the drafts got better the more we worked through it. In the end, I believe the client was happy. I hope they had a successful event. If you’re out in the Orangevale, CA area, I hope you were able to attend and get your hands on some of these.
Tyler Schrock- The Schloth
I would say Tyler Schrock and I had a successful freshman outing with his “Schroctopus” Tour fundraiser disc for 2018. He was able to make a few refresh orders to help get him to disc golf events last year after being sponsored by MVP Disc Sports. It was awesome to see that he wanted to work with me again in 2019 on a concept in the same vein as the previous. This time, the connection was a game his alumni club came up with called “Sloth”. It was a mix of rugby/soccer/handball.
We shared some references back and forth and it was time to get to work. The most iconic way you see a sloth in their habitat is hanging from a branch. That position also gives way to a rounded shaped backside that works withing the template I previously mentioned. I went to the sketchbook and nailed the position. The likeness of a sloth was a lot of trial and error. Either the sloth looked to chimpanzee-like or not enough to identify.
In the end, the reference gathering process helped me out so much. I was able to look at a few stylized examples and put those observations into our final stamp layout. This stamp screams lightheartedness. It really is an example of the person this art represent. While I’ve yet to meet Tyler, I know he’s represents MVP Disc Sports with the upmost professionalism as an athlete and ambassador.
Do you like the design for this year? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
MVP Open-LE Resistor
With the success of the MVP Open Pro side Limited Edition Fireball stamp, it was now time to turn my focus. The goal was to take the same general theme as the Fireball and create a triple foil stamp with the same visual appeal for the Amateur side of the MVP Open tournament. Since this disc will also debut in the same new "Firebalm" Plasma plastic as the Fireball, it should me for a pretty nice pairing.
Going into this design, the idea of inverting/ flipping of what was done previously, was brought up among the marketing team. I really liked that idea and ran with it. The Resistor is a widely used utility fairway driver that also has a lot of overstability (the typical flight of a disc that turns left for a right handed backhand thrower). Since I couldn't use the shot mimic'd in the first stamp, I have the disc golfer throwing a typical backhand hyzer that follows the overall circumference of the outer edge of the stamp.
The Fireball had it's font treatment on the bottom of the design, I also wanted to change this up as well. For the Resistor wording on the top portion of the design, I would design that area to act as if the circuit board and different pathways connecting itself to it. As I continued to layout out the circuits and pathways, it felt flat. I switched gears toward the end and made the call to work around the Resistor typeface and create bolts to simplify.
All in all, it was awesome to continue a theme from one Limited release to another. That's a first for me and hope everyone digs it. Thanks so much for stopping in and reading about this design. The MVP Open was a huge success and I can’t wait to see what next year brings for MVP Disc Sports.
