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The work

A licence is not a sticker

Putting a brand on a ball is a design problem before it is a manufacturing one. A football has eight panels that curve away from the viewer. A basketball has no flat surface at all. A logo that sits perfectly on a page will bend, foreshorten and split across a seam.

Our artwork is drawn for the geometry it lands on. Marks are placed where the panel is flattest and the ball is most often held. Patterns are built to survive being wrapped, so a motion bar that streaks across a football panel still reads as motion when it runs around a basketball.

Everything is proofed flat, dated and lettered as options, with the colour breakdown printed alongside — so what the licensor signs off is exactly what goes to press.

Freightliner basketball artwork wrapped around the ball

How a program runs

Licence to loading dock

Five stages, each with something the partner signs off before the next one starts.

  1. Licence & brief

    We start from the licensor's brand standards — mark usage, colour breakdowns, clear space — and the retail slot the product has to fill.

  2. Design proof

    Artwork is drawn flat, panel by panel, and proofed as a dated option sheet with a CMYK breakdown so the licensor approves exactly what prints.

  3. Sample & tooling

    Approved artwork is mapped to the mould, printed and pulled as a sample, then checked for wrap alignment and colour against the proof.

  4. Production

    Runs are built to the approved sample, with in-line checks on print registration, seam alignment and inflation.

  5. Retail packaging

    Cartons, windows and hang furniture are designed alongside the ball so the pack works on a peg, on a shelf and in a photo.

Ford Mustang basketball artwork

Capabilities

What we handle

  • Licensed design. Flat panel artwork drawn to the licensor's brand standards, delivered as dated proof sheets with CMYK breakdowns.
  • Multi-category programs. One graphic system extended across footballs, basketballs, soccer balls and bats so the range holds together.
  • Sampling. Printed samples pulled off the approved artwork and checked for wrap alignment and colour before a run is committed.
  • Production. Runs built to the approved sample with in-line checks on registration, seam alignment and inflation.
  • Retail packaging. Cartons, windows and hang furniture designed with the ball, not after it.
Footballs
8 designs
Basketballs
6 designs
Soccer Balls
2 designs
Bats
2 designs
Licensed programs
8

Portfolio

18 designs, 8 programs

The work on this site is a sample of licensed programs produced under agreement with the mark holders.

Browse the portfolio Licensed partners

Start the conversation

Send the licence, the categories and the retail window you're aiming at.