Hannah Colbert

Artist statement

This project explores the line between design, identity, and athletics through rebranding the Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø tennis teams. As both a graphic design major and a member of the Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø team, I approached this project with a personal perspective from both a creative side and a lived experience of what is comfortable to play in. The goal of this project was to refresh the current designs through digital media and embroidered designs.

Working with the coach and a few members of the team, I was able to create designs that embodied the essence of our team. We are all about having fun but can focus on the task at hand when needed. Because of this, I wanted to create something that was fun but functional in order to keep with the goals of our team. When asking the team what they would like to see in designs, responses included ¡°something fun¡± or ¡°something different then our usual designs¡±. When speaking with the coach, he gave me free rein to do whatever I wanted in regards to design. With this feedback, I strived to create designs that were refreshing and different from what we normally have. This became difficult because I had too much free rein meaning I would overthink how everything looked. In the end I focused on having fun with a project that everyone could love. 

This project involved trying to find a healthy balance of what was right for a big SI project and what was possible for the team. This SI let us do anything we wanted with very few limits. However, I was working with the tennis coach to create something usable for the team store. This is where the challenges started to arise. I needed to make something that was fresh and new but something that was also possible to be mass produced. Because of this challenge, I was able to grow and learn the ways on how to achieve both. Something that I learned from this project was how to let go and just design something that was fun and use that to figure out what was possible. With a hope to continue to work in sports, I can use this new way of thinking to influence future designs in my pursuit of my future career.

The reason I wanted to do this project was because I wanted to leave a legacy in this program that wasn¡¯t just numbers in a record book. Tennis has been part of my life for almost all of it and this rebranding project is my way of saying thank you and goodbye to the sport that has shaped me.