Preface
In 2024, I photographed the Valley Vikings High School Baseball senior game. Following the event, the team requested custom social media graphics for each senior player to post individually, as well as coordinated content for the team’s official account.
This project combined sports photography, brand consistency, and personalized graphic design into a cohesive social campaign.
Project Goal
The objective was twofold:
- Celebrate each senior athlete with a personalized graphic
- Maintain a unified visual identity for the Valley Vikings brand
The graphics needed to feel bold, commemorative, and shareable — something the players would proudly repost and families would circulate.
This wasn’t just documentation. It was legacy framing.
Creative Direction
The foundation of each design began with the images I captured during the senior game. Rather than using standard portraits, I selected high-intensity action moments to reinforce athletic identity and movement.
The layout system included:
- A textured dark background to create depth and contrast
- Prominent use of the Valley “V” logo for brand anchoring
- “Class of 2024” badge integrated into a baseball graphic
- Large-scale “VALLEY” typography layered behind the athlete
- Script-style “Baseball” overlay to introduce contrast and motion
- Individual player number and name customization
The combination of block typography and script lettering created visual tension — structure versus motion — mirroring the discipline and explosiveness of baseball itself.
Personalization & System Design
Although each graphic featured a different athlete, the system remained consistent. This ensured the series felt cohesive when viewed together on a feed.
Each player received:
- Custom number placement
- Name styling using brand-consistent type pairing
- Carefully masked cutouts for clean silhouette separation
- Subtle graphic accents (e.g., motion scribbles highlighting the ball)
Those small details elevate the piece from a template to a designed composition.
Consistency without repetition.
Personality without losing brand integrity.
Social Media Optimization
These graphics were specifically built for Instagram dimensions and mobile-first viewing.
The typography scale, contrast, and layering were optimized so that:
- Names remain readable on smaller screens
- The athlete remains the focal point
- The Valley brand remains unmistakable
Because I both captured and designed the content, the photography and graphics feel integrated rather than forced together.
That vertical integration is valuable.
Impact
The final graphics were shared by:
- Individual players
- Parents and families
- The Valley Vikings Baseball social media account
This extended the life of the senior night coverage beyond a single event and transformed it into a shareable digital campaign.
The project demonstrates the ability to:
- Translate live sports photography into branded content
- Design within existing school brand guidelines
- Create scalable social media systems
- Balance individuality with team identity
- Deliver polished visuals under event-based timelines
