EightOne x New Era

I'm excited to share some insights about my work with Eight One, an authorized retailer of New Era hats in Houston. As you may know, New Era is the official supplier of hats for Major League Baseball and allows authorized retailers to create limited custom designs, which are released as "drops."

At Eight One, we work with designer Steve R. to create custom designs inspired by local establishments that resonate with hat fans and the Houston community. Our drops have included designs inspired by Shipley Donuts, Nikko's, House of Pies, Feges BBQ, Ninfas, and more, to which have been hugely successful. Our doughnut drop even made the news due to the long lines that formed around the block!

As the creative director and photographer at Eight One, my main role is to create content that connects with the community. To achieve this, I focus on capturing each individual thread of the embroidery and side patch, so the image feels like the viewer is holding the hat in their hands. Having access to the establishment which the hat was inspired by, also helps bring the message home.

This approach is inspired by Apple's playbook, where laptops and displays are angled at 70°, just enough to encourage people to touch and interact with them when visiting their stores. Having worked at Apple for 11 years, I learned a lot about engaging people through visuals and design.

While we primarily focus on photos, we've also experimented with video content, such as our latest reel for the "Nice Ring" hat, which was inspired by Beyonce's "Put a Ring On It" music video and really connected with our audience.

Our micro-branding approach has been very successful in connecting with the Houston community, despite New Era being a global company.

We will continue to create engaging content and innovate in this space!