I think most graphic designers & content creators are naturally creative, but it is not the only characteristic required to be successful in this role

Robert Marchese

Graphic Designer & Content Creator

York United FC

In my role it’s hard to pinpoint a typical day at York United FC, which is why I like it so much.

Being the only graphic designer & videographer, tons of different projects come my way. Off-Seasons tend to differ massively from In-Season as well.

A typical offseason in my role would be preparing graphics for the upcoming season & developing assets & physical products we would need for the upcoming season.

Compared to In-Season my role shifts to focus on content being pushed through social media. Being around the team with a camera is a big part of this. It allows us to create video content that will help fans feel more connected to the team.

How much freedom and creativity do you have in your role at York United FC?

There is a lot of opportunity for freedom & creativity at York United, after all, “creative” is one of the key values set in place by Angus Mcnab as part of our club’s “Mission, Vision & Values”.

Day to day my role thrives on creativity and having to develop/execute creative graphics & content.

A common label people working in Graphic Design and Content get is that they are creative (sometimes more creative than most people working in sports). Is this realistic? Beyond creativity, which you have a ton of, tell us about other skills and abilities required and/or often overlooked when working in your role?

I think most graphic designers & content creators are naturally creative, but it is not the only characteristic required to be successful in this role.

Research is a big part of my success in this role. When I first started I always tried to create things from scratch (the top of my head) although they were “okay” there was a ton of room for improvement.

By researching what other teams around the world were doing with their graphics & with their content, I was able to improve my execution by learning from what they were doing right and how I can use my creativity to put my own spin on it and make it my own.

Never be afraid to learn from someone else.

What are some of the big creative challenges you face with content creation at York United FC? What about smaller ones?

Some big creative challenges I face at York United is to keep content fresh and not have it look/feel repetitive.

With video content & graphic content being pushed out so rapidly at times It can be tough to develop graphics/videos that are on their own engaging and fresh while at the same time remaining in line with the brand look & feel and keeping that consistency throughout the season.

Videos are particularly tough. If I want to develop a video series I need to make sure that I have 3 or 4 different video series that can rotate, so we’re not sharing the same kind of video one after another, as that leads to people being less engaged.

Having worked in graphic design for several years now, what would you list as the top 3 to 5 most important software/tools/apps to use to increase efficiency and productivity? A little description of how/why you use them would be great.

I would list the following as the 3 most important tools for graphic design.

1. Photoshop
2. Illustrator
3. InDesign

Photoshop is essential for creating social & web graphics. Learning this tool is essential to all graphic designers.

Illustrator is another. Designing vector based artwork is another essential tool for graphic designers. Vector based artwork lets you scale the artwork to any size while keeping the resolution crystal clear. An absolute must for any logo design work.

InDesign is where it all comes together. My least used of the three but InDesign is the tool best used to make documents, books, presentations. It works perfectly in line with Illustrator & Photoshop and allows you to create some really great presentations and books.

As far as productivity goes, our team uses an online project management tool called Monday, I use it to keep track of different projects on the go & a place where I can write my ideas that I can circle back to in the future.