Name, Image & Likeness

Name, Image & Likeness is a magazine concept exploring how NIL has changed college athletes’ perception. The assignment was to build a magazine brand from the ground up, starting with a logo and expanding it into a magazine cover and editorial spread. The concept is rooted in college sports, but the focus is on the athletes themselves, and specifically their experience.

Athletes are expected to perform, attend class, manage injuries, build public identities, and navigate brand opportunities at the same time. The concept was aimed at college sports: athletic departments, athletes, families, coaches, and brand partners navigating NIL from both a human and business perspective. 


Visually, I wanted the project to combine the energy of college athletics with the pressure that comes with being a young athlete in this era. I built a distressed visual system using threshold effects, scanned media, scribbles, and money references. The goal was to make the page feel unstable and rough, to reflect the pressure put on student athletes.

I built the final cover in Adobe Photoshop, as well as the design elements in the spread. I carried over the same visual system through type, image treatments, and overall style, then compiled it together in Adobe InDesign. Those shared elements helped the cover and spread feel like part of the same magazine.

The final cover was recognized with a 2026 American Advertising Awards Student Silver ADDY in publication design. It was also selected for display in the USC Journalism School’s “Great Wall”.

This project demonstrates my ability to extend a visual identity across several pieces. NIL can be a complicated topic, but I wanted the design to quickly communicate the pressure, attention, and opportunity surrounding college athletes. The final cover and spread gave me a chance to turn a current sports issue into a more human visual story.