INTRODUCTION
As Fernando Mendoza’s historic season came to an end, I set out to build a cohesive visual brand that could translate seamlessly across multiple platforms. The goal was to create a flexible system that not only highlighted his achievements, but also captured his personality and presence as a Heisman-winning quarterback.
I designed a hypothetical series of graphics that could live across Instagram and YouTube while maintaining a consistent identity. Each piece was built with scalability in mind, allowing the brand to evolve and expand into future content such as highlights, vlogs, and draft coverage.
The final result was a unified visual foundation that balances performance and storytelling, creating a brand that can continue to grow alongside Mendoza’s career.
PROCESS
Each graphic was designed with a clear purpose while still fitting into a unified visual system. For the Instagram posts, I explored three distinct directions to highlight different aspects of Mendoza’s season. The passing yards graphic used a bold red background with white typography and overlapping text and imagery to create depth and energy. For his Heisman Trophy win, I shifted to a much darker, nearly black background with minimal white text to give the piece a more dramatic and premium feel. The third post, titled “The Rise of Mendoza,” took a more narrative approach by using a desaturated grayscale base, allowing the red from his helmet and jersey to stand out as the focal point and reinforce team identity.
For the YouTube thumbnails, I created three collage-style designs titled “Nando Game Day Vlog,” “Nando Training Vlog,” and “Nando Road to the Draft.” Each thumbnail combined multiple action shots to match the theme of the video, with compositions built to be visually engaging and easy to read at smaller sizes.
Across all six designs, I focused on maintaining strong typography hierarchy, balanced composition, and clear contrast. Through multiple iterations, I refined spacing, scale, and layout to ensure each piece felt cohesive while still serving its specific platform and purpose.
RESEARCH
Before designing, I researched how sports teams, athlete brands, and media platforms present player highlights and long-form content thumbnails. I focused on how Instagram graphics differ from YouTube thumbnails in terms of composition, readability, and engagement.
For Instagram, I studied how bold color, minimal text, and strong focal points help posts stand out in a feed. For YouTube, I analyzed thumbnail strategies such as collage layouts, expressive imagery, and clear titling to maximize clickability.
CONCLUSION
This project helped me develop a stronger understanding of designing across multiple platforms while maintaining a consistent visual identity. I learned how to adapt layouts and styles depending on the format, whether it was a clean Instagram post or a more dynamic YouTube thumbnail.
Overall, the project reflects my ability to take an athlete’s performance and translate it into a compelling, multi-platform visual brand.