Ad Campaign Direction – 2025–2026 Season
The Cal State LA Athletics campaign began with a single idea: what if game day felt like a Hollywood premiere?
The department wanted something regal and electrifying—a system that captured both the prestige of the university and the cinematic energy of Los Angeles. I proposed a new framework for the season’s identity: a campaign built around narrative, not nostalgia. Each sport, each game, becomes its own story—a film with its own genre, tone, and emotional temperature.
The result is a modular visual system where every poster functions as a movie one-sheet. “Shhh!” is psychological tension; “The Rally” is mythic heroism; “The Run” channels LA street energy; “United Front” explores unity and rivalry; and “Up Next” embodies anticipation and ascent. Together, they create a cinematic language that transcends sport and celebrates momentum, identity, and pride.
To build anticipation, each sport launched with a teaser campaign—a series of stripped-back, high-contrast posters designed to intrigue and provoke. The basketball teaser, a crowned ball suspended in light, sets the tone for the series: elevated, iconic, and unmistakably Cal State LA.
I directed the creative concept, wrote the campaign brief, oversaw lighting and production, and designed each piece in collaboration with photographer Jordan Renville. The aesthetic is rooted in contrast—light and shadow, stillness and movement, intimacy and spectacle—expressing both the discipline of the athlete and the drama of the city.
This campaign reframes athletics as visual storytelling—a cinematic mythology for Cal State LA.
Every game is a premiere: Every image, a scene in the story of Los Angeles.
GOLDEN
EAGLES
“I heard from some players again
"this is the best media day l've been a part of." I appreciate all your talents, willingness to share and learn, and have each others' backs. Thanks guys.”
—Myles Bridgewater-Jackman