Throwback Campaign

Denver Broncos

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The 7th Annual Awards

Nominee ✨

• Best Graphic Art or Design

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ABOUT THIS ENTRY

To celebrate our 1977‑inspired uniforms, we developed a fully integrated throwback creative campaign that blended vintage aesthetics with a modern edge. The goal was to create a visual experience that broke through fans’ daily content clutter and delivered a nostalgic yet fresh in‑game and social moment.

How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?

This campaign sets a new benchmark for fan engagement by proving that retro design can be more than nostalgia — it can be a powerful modern engagement strategy when reimagined with contemporary craft. Instead of replicating 1977 aesthetics, we built a retro‑modern visual system designed specifically for today’s sports fan: fast‑scrolling, hyper‑stimulated, and drawn to bold, stylistic content that breaks their daily visual pattern.

By blending archival textures, era‑inspired typography, and analog color palettes with modern layouts, the design system created a distinctive visual identity that stood out across both social feeds and in‑stadium screens. It offered fans a refreshing “visual reset” while delivering a fully immersive throwback experience tailored to modern consumption habits.

This work moves the industry forward by demonstrating how heritage can be leveraged as a design asset, not just for nostalgia, but for innovation. It elevates uniforms from informational moments to fully realized creative worlds, encouraging teams to think beyond traditional hype content.

 

Objective

To celebrate our 1977‑inspired uniforms, we developed a fully integrated throwback creative campaign that blended vintage aesthetics with a modern edge. The goal was to create a visual experience that broke through fans’ daily content clutter and delivered a nostalgic yet fresh in‑game and social moment.

Our opportunity was to elevate nostalgia by pairing our 1977-inspired look with modern design sensibilities. We set out to craft a look that honored the past without feeling dated and to give fans a striking visual “pattern break” across their feeds and in‑stadium experience.

Strategy & Execution

The throwback campaign was intentionally crafted with today’s sports fan in mind; a fan who is visually savvy, social‑media fluent and constantly surrounded by fast‑moving content. While the creative leaned into 1977 nostalgia, every design decision was rooted in modern consumption habits and real‑time fan behavior.

Today’s fans crave authenticity and storytelling. By blending archival 1977 aesthetics with modern design techniques, the campaign connected to two audiences at once: lifelong fans who remember the era, and younger fans who appreciate the stylized, vintage‑inspired look trending across digital culture. The campaign met fans where they are visually, emotionally and culturally.

Organizations

• Denver Broncos

Credits

Kevin Johnson
Creative Director
Denver Broncos

Fatima Knight
Art Direction
Denver Broncos

Julian Mijares
Graphic Designer
Denver Broncos

Parker Albin
Digital Designer
Denver Broncos

Riley Stewart
Graphic Designer
Denver Broncos

Tori Boykins
Digital Design Manager
Denver Broncos

Maddie Graham
UI/UX Designer
Denver Broncos

Eric Allsopp
Sr. Graphic Designer
Denver Broncos

Jamie Vaci
Creative Project Manager
Denver Broncos

Gabriel Christus
Photographer
Denver Broncos

Ben Swanson
Photographer
Denver Broncos

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