Oakville Hornets Apparel
Overview
Custom apparel designs created for the Oakville Hornets Girls Hockey Association, developed to unify players and fans while modernizing the association’s online store presence.
Role
Graphic Designer
Scope
Apparel Design & Product Mockups
Timeline
2 weeks
Tools
Illustrator
Photoshop
Client
Oakville Hornets Girls Hockey Association
Problem
The Oakville Hornets Girls Hockey Association had not refreshed their apparel designs in several seasons, resulting in outdated visuals and limited options across the organization. REP players were restricted to one design only and players at lower levels could not wear that design at all.
From a user experience perspective, the existing system did not support the needs of its different user groups including players, families, and supporters. It also lacked a consistent way for the community to engage with the association’s brand.
Goal
The goal of this project was to introduce a refreshed apparel system that offered a variety of bold, modern and customizable sporty apparel designs that empower both players and fans while remaining true to the Hornets brand. An additional focus was creating designs that felt personal and customizable, allowing players to add their jersey numbers to apparel and make each piece feel uniquely their own.
Success meant offering more choice, improving visual consistency, and building a scalable apparel system that strengthened the association’s identity while supporting personalization.
Previous Player Designs
Previous Fan Apparel Designs
Strategy
The emphasis was put on elevating the association apparel to feel competitive alongside NCAA and Major League teams. All designs were developed within the existing Hornets brand system with research into high level sports branding to ensure consistency across the association while defining a bold, confident tone that empowered players of all levels and also being accessible to fans.
Process
01 - Research
Analyzed Major League and NCAA apparel for insight into how elite companies use design to represent confidence and consistency.
02 - Visual Exploration
Researched composition styles, layout systems, and bold typography that supported customization while communicating competitiveness.
03 - Brand Constraints
Designed within a limited brand colour palette that ensured logos were readable and adaptable to a variety of apparel colours.
04 - Logo Preprations
Existing association logos were vectorized to enable uniform scaling, recoloring, and multipurpose use.
05 - Personalization Planning
Developed layouts which allowed room for jersey numbers so that customization could be used without affecting brand consistency or hierarchy.
06 - Concept Development
Produced several drafts of each logo and customizable element, experimenting with layout, typography, and colour variations.
07 - Review & Refinement
Concepts were presented to the association for feedback, and chosen designs were refined to guarantee consistency throughout the system.
08 - Naming System
To make it easier for users to recognize and choose designs in the association store, clear naming conventions were developed.
08 - Production & Mockup
Produced accurate product mockups that represented both base designs and customized options, and prepared production-ready files.
Solution
Iterations made with client feedback ensured that the final designs met not only associations needs but end-users as well. The end result not only improves accessibility for all members of the association but consistency and confidence across the entire apparel experience as well.
Takeaway
This project put an emphasis on the significance of designing within brand and production constraints. It was essential to develop adaptable, uniform solutions for a variety of apparel types while working with a limited colour palette and preexisting logos. I also discovered how clear organization and naming systems enhance the shopping experience and lessen user confusion on the association store platform.
