Zipline Goes Downtown for the 23rd Annual Hoopfest Poster

This year marks the 23rd annual Hoopfest event in Spokane. For those who don’t know, Hoopfest is the world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Each year, a poster is created with a celebrity or sports star from the area. In the past, the poster has featured athletes like John Stockton, Shawn Kemp, Craig Ehlo, Dan Dickau, and Adam Morrison. For 2012, the Hoopfest poster is a little different…

When Rick Steltenpohl, the Executive Director of Hoopfest asked us to help create this year’s poster, the first question was, “What legendary sports star are we featuring this year?” With it being the 23rd year, there was one logical choice…the legendary number 23, Michael Jordan. However, getting Michael was not in the cards and he isn’t exactly from Spokane. We talked it through and decided that we should celebrate the true heros of Hoopfest, the players.

The concept we developed, showcases a player at the center of an energetic, dowtown Spokane scene. The crowds, city landmarks and opposing players coupled with bright colors and a sharp, angular, illustration style really captures the excitement and energy that is Hoopfest.

The illustration was created by Shawn Davis, our Creative Director here at Zipline. He was not alone in the project. Don Hamilton of Hamilton Studio shot some wonderful reference photos of Shawn’s children to use on the poster. In addition, the cool Hoopfest 23 logo, was created by Steve Kutsch. Printing for the poster was handled by Ross Printing and input and feedback on the concept came from: Ed Miller, Jess Walter, and Lawrence Allen!