MMDR 2014 Shirts
Marin Memorial Day Races
Every year, the Tamalpa running club hosts a series of races that bring together both the community and a stellar lineup of athletes. I've been designing the shirts for the event for a handful of years now and took a slight detour in terms of my approach. Usually the Race Director requests that an egret be included in the artwork but I happened to know that he's a bird geek of sorts and loves kingfishers. I decided to surprise him with a new mascot for the event and below, you can get a sense of the process leading up to the finished piece.
Marin Memorial Day Races
Every year, the Tamalpa running club hosts a series of races that bring together both the community and a stellar lineup of athletes. I've been designing the shirts for the event for a handful of years now and took a slight detour in terms of my approach. Usually the Race Director requests that an egret be included in the artwork but I happened to know that he's a bird geek of sorts and loves kingfishers. I decided to surprise him with a new mascot for the event and below, you can get a sense of the process leading up to the finished piece.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/548a2dd7ce5b1683a58eaa76951866b8/2b80391caa3190bd9b1a7999_rw_600.jpg?h=5ebcf456e9143afc3d4e7ee052940773)
Original Sketch of an abstracted kingfisher for the shirt.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/548a2dd7ce5b1683a58eaa76951866b8/64da3d336c29bd011f6bd0d6_rw_600.jpg?h=3f4e098043a415dd0815f5becba1e0f9)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/548a2dd7ce5b1683a58eaa76951866b8/1b7273d0886c43a3209a6ea6_rw_600.jpg?h=35b76aa994a58cda7db728ddee86ec4c)
Further simplification of the bird, condensing it's protportions and integration of bannering and lettering.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/548a2dd7ce5b1683a58eaa76951866b8/1ae27c4f981761cdd676e00b_rw_600.jpg?h=431aa101b5b5eaeacca30cc292204170)
While I originally wanted the interior of the bird to have a scuffed texture, the effect didn't translate well when we went on press, so I opted for a solid fill for the finished piece.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/548a2dd7ce5b1683a58eaa76951866b8/9ec93b484f2ab1f0e5d9d882_rw_600.jpg?h=5c9c503c08a17f1b21d1b61189e512ab)
The fantastic people over at Marshall Arts did the silkscreening and cranked out about 1500 of these shirts for the event. Phil and his staff are always such a pleasure to work with. They even accommodated matching the orangish red to the case of a pencil set that I had in the office.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/548a2dd7ce5b1683a58eaa76951866b8/1a8fa0c03d65cd0ac0c1f8f4_rw_600.jpg?h=b5d50995d900a14f2139ef5059c22d41)