89th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

As Art Director for the 89th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, a College Football Playoff Semifinal, I led the development of a fully integrated campaign designed to elevate the game into a cultural moment of national significance.

With increasing competition for attention across college football, the challenge was to create urgency and anticipation within an exceptionally compressed timeline, while positioning the Cotton Bowl as a must-watch, high-stakes event.

The concept, “A Story of Mythic Proportions,” reimagines the game through a neoclassical lens, drawing parallels between ancient warriors and modern athletes. Rooted in themes of resilience, legacy, and triumph, the campaign transforms the field of play into something larger than sport, a stage where history, mythology, and performance converge.

Visually, the system draws influence from Dallas’ architectural landscape, blending monumental forms, symmetry, and structure with celestial textures and gold-accented typography to create a sense of scale and permanence. Subtle references to Greek mythology, including connections between Hermes and Goodyear, reinforce themes of speed, precision, and victory, while grounding the work in both place and story.

I directed the development and execution of a comprehensive campaign spanning social, digital, print, environmental, and in-stadium applications, ensuring a cohesive and immersive experience across every touchpoint. From stadium signage to citywide activations and real-time content, the system was designed to move at the speed of the game while maintaining a premium, unified presence.

The campaign delivered record-breaking results, including 20.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched Cotton Bowl in history, alongside significant social growth and more than $100M in economic impact.

This work continued to build on a multi-year creative system for the Cotton Bowl Classic, demonstrating how concept-driven design and storytelling can elevate a single game into a national moment.