Sunday Night Football is the NFL’s marquee weekly game, airing in prime time with the highest regular-season viewership. It features top matchups and offers more exposure and prestige than games on other days.
The ask: With this being the Bears’ first Sunday Night Football game of the season, the social media team saw an opportunity to capitalize on the increased spotlight by developing a new visual style for all graphic content across the team’s social platforms for that game.
The solution: Graphic Designers Mat Stewart and I led the creative direction for this project. Given the unique nature of the Sunday Night Football game, we were given the flexibility to explore design styles outside the standard brand guidelines. With a tight turnaround, we focused on incorporating a few key design elements and emphasized impactful photo treatments. We used the idea of "dark mode" to guide the overall mood of the SNF design, with this being a visual theme change. The visuals are bold and graphic, utilizing black and white imagery to create a dramatic tone, complemented by Bears colors to maintain brand presence and visual impact.
The Chicago Bears were set to play in a Sunday Night Football matchup—the NFL’s premier primetime game and one of the most-watched weekly broadcasts in the United States.
The ask: Develop a distinct social media approach to elevate coverage of the Bears vs. Rams Sunday Night Football matchup.
The solution: Mat Stewart (graphic designer) and I collaborated to lead the art direction for this project. To build on the anticipation and excitement surrounding the Chicago Bears appearance on Sunday Night Football, we developed an entirely new visual style. With the flexibility to extend beyond the brand guidelines, we introduced new photographic treatments and graphic elements designed to stand out from the rest of the season’s content.
To engage fans, we introduced the concept of “Dark Mode” as a visual theme and that they should activate that if availble on their devices. Imagery was primarily treated in black and white, accented with vibrant highlights inspired by neon lighting. This approach allowed the content to seamlessly integrate with dark mode devices while creating a bold, high-contrast look that stands out on screen. Each file was built as a template, allowing the social media team to easily update content with live game-day assets. The social and video teams were also able to expand on the designs while maintaining consistency within this established brand system.
