AFL Content Q&A

Process for Creating 2018 AFL Finals graphics

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Wait no more. It's Grand Final day! Ain't no second prize today. Who wins? #AFLGF

A post shared by AFL (@afl) on Sep 28, 2018 at 2:08pm PDT

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Two old rivals. Who goes through? 🔥 #AFLFinals #AFL

A post shared by AFL (@afl) on Sep 20, 2018 at 2:24pm PDT

There were a few basic and obvious elements I had in mind for these game day graphics; player images, the dust explosion which was used a lot across the finals, team colours, match info and background textures — but at the same time, I wanted to be flexible as to how those textures and colour combinations could work together for each graphic.

I was comfortable not reinventing the wheel with the overall design — my main focus was to create something simple and vivid enough to stop enough people in their feed; convey the match details and build anticipation for each game.

How much work goes into each one?

I spend a lot of time selecting the best possible player action images, while taking things into account like the shorts/guernsey combinations that will be worn for each matchup. My top priorities are photos where players are exerting strength and/or emotion. I feel like those stronger shots never let a design down, where a bad image selection has the potential to.

After a few more steps fine-tuning the players and arranging background textures, it was a matter of experimenting with colour gradients to put an individual spin on each design. Before I began, I had kind of imagined both sets of team colours blending together — so it took a bit of time to actually achieve that mix.

Each graphic took around 2 hours to finalise, while the initial concept would have taken roughly 4 hours to get it to where I wanted.

Current design trends

I’m loving a lot of the grunge paper textures in my feed of late and there’s a hint of that style in my finals graphics.

The beauty of sports design is that there’s room for everyone to add their spin and it doesn’t really matter how many people are jumping on similar styles — those individual takes are what makes them unique.

If you follow a lot of pro sports accounts or content creators in general, you’ll notice so many contrasting styles in your feed — it’s impossible to get bored.

Favourite graphic created

I’m still proud of this Facebook panorama used in the lead up to the 2017 grand final. It’s not my best technical work, looking back but it was an idea I took on myself to help set the scene of what we, as fans, were on the verge of witnessing on Grand Final day. I think the panorama was a good way to demonstrate the history and emotion of premiers past, and it was a satisfying result in the end.

Get the full experience on the AFL Facebook Page.

How the Lewis Jetta 'Finals 18' graphic came about

I was working at the game when Lewis Jetta had his ‘Ronaldo moment’, so it wasn’t really until I saw Nic Naitanui’s tweet the next morning that I had time to put two and two together.

I didn’t get the chance to work on the graphic until later in the day and thought there was a fair chance someone else would get in before me. The rest of the day went by and I hadn’t seen anything similar doing the rounds, so I thought I would give it a shot.

It was really just a mockup and a bit of fun as I wasn’t sure if the idea would get over the line copyright-wise. That’s when I turned my attention to changing the title from FIFA18, and FINALS18 seemed too good to ignore. Luckily, the graphic was cleared to go that night and was published first thing the following morning.

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Taking it to the #jettslevel 🎮 How about a copy of this, @nicnat? #AFLFinals

A post shared by AFL (@afl) on Sep 9, 2018 at 6:20pm PDT

Australian sporting teams/orgs leading the way with their graphic design?

Loads! I could genuinely highlight content from almost all team/league accounts across Australian sport that I’ve admired at one point or another — NBL, ARL/NRL, Melbourne Storm, Sydney Kings, St Kilda, Melbourne Demons and Collingwood spring to mind. I hate to leave the rest out. There are so many talented and passionate people in #smsports which pushes us all to improve.

Proudest moment/biggest achievement in the industry

As someone who was on the outside looking in on the digital sports industry for a number of years — I think I’m most proud to have put the responsibility on myself to do the work to create content and develop my skills, so that when the opportunity did arise, I was ready to take it and run.

Best advice received

When you’re self-taught, it’s not uncommon to have some self doubt every now and then, so just having supportive and creative people around you can be a huge boost. The best advice I’ve probably received was to apply for this particular role, even though it was Melbourne-based and I’m living in WA.

Tips for anyone looking to build a career in sports business

Create the content you want to see, even if you don’t have an audience right away. Keep showcasing and developing your skills even if you feel like no one’s watching — worst case scenario, you’ll have a great time doing it and a killer portfolio for when the time is right.