Most job interviews go like this. My experience ranges from this company and that company, the San Francisco 49ers... "Ooo... the 49ers"! For some reason this seems to be the experience most people are drawn to. It doesn't matter what other great experience I might have or what prestigious company I've worked for; this is always the main talking point. I'm going to be honest, I had an amazing experience working at the 49ers. However, not everything is what you might imagine. I'll try to explain it all in a way that hopefully gives you insights into the world of sports design.

I started working at the 49ers when I graduated from SJSU with a BFA in Graphic Design. I began as an intern and slowly worked my way up to being a full-time employee of the team. Because I began as an intern, there were a lot of projects I took that full-time designers didn't want. I didn't mind them because to me everything was new an exciting. Over time I began to take on more exciting project to the point of even leading out in full campaigns. Below is a brief description of the highlights, lowlights, and things in between.

Watching Every Game In The Stadium

Yes, you get to watch every game! Every home game at least. This was the coolest part of the job when I first started. The high didn't last long because the truth is, most of the time was spent in a PressBox editing live photos to post on social media. Sometimes I would be so caught up editing pictures or designing posts that I would miss the game completely. Also there is no real feel of the game since you can barely hear the fans and the PressBox area is generally a quiet work zone. I'll tell you a secret... one of the coolest things is that we had full field access. This was to be used in case digital transmissions were not working. We would run SD cards from the photographers on the field to the design team upstairs. The reason it was cool was because we took our time and experience the game on the sidelines from time to time. Of course we were on the sidelines before the game and after the game but you really wanted to be there when all the action was happening.

Meeting and Interacting With Players

When it came to players interaction there is a stigma as to how much interaction is ok. It's really hard to not turn into a fanboy but you have to keep cool at first. Over time you kind of get over it and you see them as regular people. I remember a time when I was in the cafeteria line next to Navorro Bowman, and I couldn't help but just stare and think to myself "this is one of the greatest linebackers of all time and he's not much taller than me". The players are normal people, and a lot of them are kids in grown men bodies. Many of them barely started college before they came to the NFL. You really get to see the maturity when we did the player video and photoshoots. The younger players know all the trendy dances and really enjoy all the attention but the veterans could really care less about being there. The design team got to spend more time with the players for these photoshoots but nothing like the time the video and photo team spent with them. The videographers and photographers were constantly around the players at practice, on the field during games, and even the social videos they would make. Every once in a while the design team would get brought on to help them film or set up for a shoot. It was a good time speaking to some of the players on a more casual level.

A Variety of Design Projects & Creative Skills

In terms of design I really enjoyed being a jack of all trades. You never knew what project you would take on each day. There are a lot of standard things like social media posts, email designs, photo editing, and color correction. But there would also be some high profile projects like creating in stadium banners, scoreboard graphics, photoshoot directing, and jersey branding and campaign (This was one of my major projects). If you're going to work in sports you have to be highly adaptable and willing to take on any project. Some might be fun but you'll occasionally get some boring projects. Some of the most boring projects I worked on were presentation designs. Usually the content was dry and there was little creative liberty. Often time we would make a really cool design and the day before release we would hear that "the sales team has partnered with such and such company, add their logo on that design before it goes out". This frustrated me so much because it was usually last minute but also because there was no input from the design team. Of course you would hear the famous lines, "make my logo bigger"! This only made the design fall flat. If you think the busiest time of the year was the season you're wrong. The busiest time was after the season when all the internal departments send in requests they didn't have time to work on until now. The creative work is never ending but overall it is always a learning and rewarding experience.

Close Knit Team and Co-Workers

Everything I mentioned were real highlights but nothing comes close to how close we all were. Most sports teams are like small companies, there are around 200 employee's at most so you tend to know everyone well. Yes the office gossip is real, especially in the sports world. But I really stayed away from that, to me the best part was spending time together on projects, in the office, or just having lunch with friends. We would just joke around or take time out of our day to walk the stadium and talk about life. It was really a beautiful experience that I have not had since leaving. I still keep in touch with my coworkers and even hang out with them still. As I write this I'm waiting for a call from a friend that I met while working at the 49ers and we take the time to catch up often. Ive seen people transition in their lives and some who are still working for the team but you cant help but be proud of them as you would with someone in your own family. It is really one of the sweetest things of working in sports.

Closing Thoughts

Most peoples experience is largely dependent on the performance of the team. If you're working for a team that is not successful, it will more than likely affect the morale and project scope. More successful teams will often have a wider range of projects and even room for creative explorations. Often times the project workload can be overwhelming. Deadlines for projects can be within the day and when it come to gameday or the draft, turnaround times are within a few minutes or even seconds. You're usually going to be working 6 days a week during the season and often times on-call if any player gets traded or breaking news happen. If you're able to look past that, I would say its a great opportunity to learn a wide range of skills and be able to take the lead on high profile projects. Of course there's a lot more to share but hopefully this brief overview helps you understand what it's like to work as a designer in sports. Overall, my experience was incredible! Im sure you can tell by looking at the pictures.