LAS Apparel: Align Hoodie

I can't say this enough... I LOVE apparel design! 

Each year LAS likes to launch some new t-shirt, hoodie and hat designs. Last year I worked on a hoodie design that I wanted to be modern, have a focus on typography and have some American design elements included. 2020 was meant to hold the Olympics, so I thought including an American theme would be appealing to our American archers.

I started with a large blank canvas in Adobe Illustrator. Utilizing different sans serif typefaces, I began brainstorming by typing out Lancaster Archery Supply and other taglines, phrases and related information. I incorporated the target, stars and the American flag in these sketches. Overall I was breaking away from the Lancaster Archery logo, while still designing with the brand in mind.

I landed on the below mock that was eventually approved by the appropriate stakeholders. This design loudly states "Lancaster Archery Supply" with an intentional focus on "Archery." "Established in 1983" is much smaller but knocked out of a white block background to provide balance in the overall design. Underneath features a flag with the company location, while intentionally emphasizing "USA."

Then came the time to source a hoodie. While using a local screen printer, I confirmed I wanted a royal blue hoodie to stay consistent with the LAS colors. At the time, LAS didn't have a bold blue garment for sale like this one, so it added variety to the apparel line. By having a bold garment, I was able to successfully use a one-color design to reduce cost overall.

After getting several hoodie samples from our screen printer, we decided to go with the Independent Trading Co. SS4500 Mens Midweight Hooded Pullover Sweatshirt in Royal Blue.

Once the hoodies were ordered and received in inventory, our in-house photographer used an in-house employee as the hoodie model. Our eCommerce team added the image and description to the site, and I included the new product in the 2019-2020 LAS catalog.

This hoodie is available for purchase on the Lancaster Archery website: https://www.lancasterarchery.com/lancaster-archery-supply-align-hoodie.html. It is definitely a design I am very proud of and pleased with the final design!