USS Salt Lake City NFL Package Branding
Custom designed packaging for Utah Football's annual NFL player gift box built around their USS Salt Lake City tribute theme
Each year, college football programs send their NFL players a care package containing swag to keep that connection alive once players move on to the pros. The University of Utah takes that packaging seriously, commissioning a fully custom-designed box built around the team's theme for the season. I was contracted to design the box for their USS Salt Lake City tribute year.
The story behind the theme
The USS Salt Lake City was a World War II-era heavy cruiser that earned 11 battle stars and survived the entire war which was a remarkable record for a ship many thought had been lost to history. Utah Football adopted the vessel as a tribute for one historic game, incorporating the ship's distinctive camouflage design into their uniforms.
The packaging design
The box itself was designed to feel like an extension of the uniform and the tribute. That meant pulling in the ship's camouflage pattern, photos of the vessel, and custom insignia developed for the theme. Metal rivet textures and other structural design elements gave the packaging an industrial, naval character throughout. The goal was something that felt cohesive with the full visual identity Utah had built around the theme and not just a box with a logo slapped on it.
