Hoop Dreams Are For Every Body
Answering the call from the Toronto Raptors to design a shirt with a message that we felt strongly for.
2023
Messaging, Illustration & Apparel Design
BRIEF
Pensole Lewis College
The Brief
DESIGN WITH A PURPOSE
In 2023, the Toronto Raptors partnered with Pensole Lewis College to introduce the Raptors MVP (Message, Values & Purpose) Design Program. To submit an application, candidates were asked to design a t-shirt graphic that expressed a message about a movement, cause or mission that we were passionate about.
Inspiration
HIGHLIGHTING AN INVISIBLE CAUSE
For my application, I chose to focus on something very personal. In September of 2022, I lost the ability to walk and was forced to slow down for the first time in my life.
It took half a year for doctors to figure out what was wrong with me, and during that time I lived in chronic pain and questioned whether I would ever be able to walk again. This taught me a lot about the daily struggles that people who suffer from chronic conditions and/ or pain have to manage.
Inspired by personal experience.
The Concept
Hoop Dreams Are For Every Body
"Hoop Dreams Are For Every Body" is a project that serves as a reminder to consider inclusivity not just for religion, race, language or gender, but also for invisible disabilities. The opening in the chain-link fence represents the barriers that people who live with invisible disabilities such as chronic pain, depression, etc. may face when the thing that they want to do most is right in front of them—yet still just out of reach.
Result
A MONTH IN MOTOR CITY
Seven of us were chosen by the Toronto Raptors to spend a month in Detroit, Michigan at Pensole Lewis College where we ideated, sketched and designed with purpose—creating and pitching a collection of apparel that had the opportunity to become the Toronto Raptors 2023 Inclusion.
