No Rivals
EYP Campaign
A new perspective on what No Rivals could become.
The debut campaign for No Rivals Sports Club, a non-collegiate apparel line built around ambition, individuality, and the pursuit of something greater. Through minimalist apparel, lifestyle photography, and aspirational storytelling, the campaign introduced a new expression of the brand beyond traditional collegiate merchandise.
My Role
Creative Direction, Product Design
Disciplines
Brand Strategy, Apparel Design, Art Direction, Campaign Development, Photography
Scope
New Apparel Line / Brand Extension / Launch Campaign
Impact
New Product Category / Industry & Collegiate Recognition
Year
2024
Industry
Apparel
At the summit, where earth and sky embrace, we find a view that belongs only to those who dare to climb.
The Brief
Taking the brand beyond the campus.
No Rivals had built its identity around collegiate culture, creating products that connected people to their schools through elevated design.
But the philosophy behind the brand was never limited to college sports.
Elevate Your Perspective marked the debut of No Rivals Sports Club, a new apparel line that could exist independently of university licensing and traditional fan merchandise.
It was also our first real step beyond headwear, introducing new athletic materials and apparel categories we hadn't previously explored. We weren't just launching a new collection. We were testing what No Rivals could become.
The Strategy
Build a lifestyle brand, not another merchandise collection.
No Rivals had built its audience through collegiate headwear, but Sports Club was an opportunity to explore what the brand could become without relying on university logos or school affiliations.
The strategy was to introduce a broader lifestyle identity through new athletic materials, apparel categories, and a more restrained design language. Rather than competing with our existing collegiate products, Sports Club needed to establish its own reason to exist.
“Elevate Your Perspective” became the creative foundation. The campaign focused on ambition, individuality, and personal growth, using fashion-inspired photography and aspirational storytelling instead of traditional sports marketing.
Launching on Black Friday gave the collection a high-visibility introduction, but also meant competing for attention during one of the busiest retail periods of the year. The goal was to use that moment to introduce something genuinely new to our audience while testing the potential for No Rivals beyond headwear.
The Decisions
New materials. New products. A different kind of brand expression.
For a company known primarily for collegiate hats, moving into athletic apparel was a significant departure.
The collection introduced minimalist hoodies, shirts, and hats, along with new athletic materials that pushed us beyond our established product expertise.
Without the immediate recognition of university logos, the products needed to stand on their own. That meant relying on material choices, silhouettes, restrained graphics, and the emotional connection created through the campaign.
I wanted the photography to feel more like a fashion editorial than a traditional sportswear advertisement. The imagery needed to communicate ambition and individuality while establishing Sports Club as something distinct from our collegiate collections.
The decision was to make the campaign feel bigger than the products themselves.
The Build
Black Friday. New products. No room for a quiet launch.
We chose Black Friday to introduce Sports Club, adding another layer of complexity to an already ambitious release.
Launching during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year meant coordinating new product categories, unfamiliar materials, campaign production, and the digital rollout against a particularly demanding retail calendar.
My role combined creative direction and hands-on product design, bringing together apparel, messaging, and photography into a unified campaign.
I worked with photographer Malcolm Herod, with additional disposable photography by Cayli Clack, to create imagery that supported the collection's aspirational direction.
The challenge was making an entirely new side of the business feel intentional and established from its very first release, even while navigating the logistical realities of getting it out the door on Black Friday.
The Impact
A slow start. A stronger response. Recognition beyond sales.
The initial launch didn't deliver the immediate sales response we'd hoped for. Despite releasing on Black Friday, the collection moved slowly during its first few days before sales began picking up.
It was an important learning experience. We were introducing unfamiliar product categories to an audience that primarily knew us for collegiate headwear, and that transition wasn't going to happen overnight.
The creative response, however, told another part of the story.
The campaign photography received considerable positive attention at industry conferences, including from schools that appreciated the more artistic approach to sports and lifestyle marketing.
That recognition reinforced something I believed strongly: collegiate and sports-adjacent brands didn't have to rely on conventional athletic imagery to connect with their audiences.
Commercially, the collection was an experiment in expanding our product offering. Creatively, it demonstrated a new direction for the brand and earned recognition from the very partners and institutions we worked with.
The Reflection
Not every successful experiment starts with a successful launch.
EYP taught me a lot about the difference between creating something compelling and introducing something customers are ready to buy.
We were testing new materials, entering new apparel categories, and launching on Black Friday. In hindsight, that was a lot of unfamiliar territory to navigate at once.
The slow initial sales were frustrating, but watching the collection gain traction and hearing schools praise the photography gave the project a different kind of validation.
I'm proud of the creative work, but I'm equally glad we took the risk. Building a brand means knowing when to push beyond what's already working, even when the results aren't immediate.
Sometimes the most valuable projects are the ones that teach you what the next version needs to be.
Full Credits
CD & Product Design
Martick
Photography
Malcolm Herod
Disposables
Cayli Clack
Models
Maya Koch / Misha Shang / Dylan Stiggers
WHAT'S NEXT
There's more where that came from.
One project only tells part of the story. Explore more of my work, the teams I've led, and the experiences that shaped how I approach design.
MORE WORK
Different challenges, different industries, same obsession with making things better.
EXPERIENCES
A closer look at my background across technical design, brand-building, creative leadership, digital systems, and hands-on execution over the last few years.