Role: Creative Director

Client: Ed O’Hara, The Big West Conference

Services: Brand Architecture, Positioning, Brand Messaging, Brand Tagline & Naming, Brand Strategy, Brand Book Development, Identity Development, Uniform Development, Brand Standards

The Big West is comprised of 11 universities throughout California and Hawaii, including Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, and UC Long Beach. In early Spring 2021, we set out to change the conference’s identity; to infuse energy and prestige into the governing athletic body, its schools, students, and athletes. After hundreds of hours of strategic research, stakeholder interviews, and athletic conference SWOT analysis, I was able to craft a new brand messaging direction for The Big West that helped inform the new identity as a whole. I wrote and pitched ONLY THE BOLD™ as the tagline to capture the spirit and strength of the conference, along with a brand book of complete architecture messaging. Download the book HERE. From there, and in partnership with the visual team, the now iconic ‘flying W’ was born. The logo, primary mark, is an external expression of the brand’s courageous pillars and will be a source of pride for generations to come.