Young Guns
Young Guns is a portfolio competition awarding creative professionals 30 years and under, including designers, illustrators, entrepreneurs, and more!
Category
YG21
Annual ID
YG21_Amato_0

Max Amato
Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Artist, and Author
Hometown: Silver Spring, MDCurrent City: Brooklyn, NY
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Max Amato is a designer, illustrator, artist, and author based in New York City. His practice focuses on culturally impactful branding work in the worlds of sport, music, and fashion. Clients past and present include Nike, Apple, David Beckham, Electronic Arts, Def Jam Recordings, and more. In addition to his design work, he is a visual artist, as well as a children's book author, having written and illustrated two books for Scholastic, with two others on the way with Source Books.
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Beyond The Court
I partnered with the Nike NYC team as an independent contractor, developing the brand identity and design system from the ground up, as well as art directing and designing both animated and physical components of the experience. Additionally, I also art directed photography and video assets of the event to be used for product and promotional purposes.
Animation and Graphic Support: Cekai
Production: Reese Lynette and Taylor Cole
Strategy: Gabby Tama and Tyrell Drayton
Writing: Manny Maduakolam
Production: Victory
Photography: Laura Fuchs, Luke Schaifer, Jessica Foley, Sophia Wilson















Title
Beyond The Court
Agency
Max Amato
Client
YG21 | Max Amato
Annual ID
YG21_Amato_10
Category
2023 YG Work: YG21
CLIENT
Nike
ROLE IN PROJECT
Graphic Design and Art Direction Lead.I partnered with the Nike NYC team as an independent contractor, developing the brand identity and design system from the ground up, as well as art directing and designing both animated and physical components of the experience. Additionally, I also art directed photography and video assets of the event to be used for product and promotional purposes.
PROJECT CREDITS
Creative Direction: Ayca Acun, Carlo Luetto, Nate SkinnerAnimation and Graphic Support: Cekai
Production: Reese Lynette and Taylor Cole
Strategy: Gabby Tama and Tyrell Drayton
Writing: Manny Maduakolam
Production: Victory
Photography: Laura Fuchs, Luke Schaifer, Jessica Foley, Sophia Wilson
Inter Miami CF
Eventually, I was also given the chance to present the work directly to David Beckham and the ownership group in Miami, which led to the selection of the final logo, color palette, and design system.
Creative Direction: Kimou Meyer & Pete Macia
Strategy: Kate Perkins and Dudley Versaci
Custom Typographic Glyph Set: Swiss Typefaces
Footage: Provided by Inter Miami CF

















Title
Inter Miami CF
Agency
Max Amato
Client
YG21 | Max Amato
Annual ID
YG21_Amato_20
Category
2023 YG Work: YG21
CLIENT
David Beckham & Major League Soccer
ROLE IN PROJECT
Design Lead. Working closely with and under the creative direction of Kimou Meyer, I was the primary designer on the project, developing conceptual approaches to the branding based on our strategic platform. Once our branding direction was chosen, I designed and created the official logo files, directed logo animations, custom typography, jersey designs, and other deliverables.Eventually, I was also given the chance to present the work directly to David Beckham and the ownership group in Miami, which led to the selection of the final logo, color palette, and design system.
PROJECT CREDITS
Studio: Doubleday & CartwrightCreative Direction: Kimou Meyer & Pete Macia
Strategy: Kate Perkins and Dudley Versaci
Custom Typographic Glyph Set: Swiss Typefaces
Footage: Provided by Inter Miami CF
EA Skate.
Working under the creative direction of Paul Miller, I was the design director on the project, leading conceptual exploration, client presentations, creation of final assets, and also developing a robust brand guidelines document. Additional tasks included working with an animator to develop a motion toolkit, as well as a custom shape-shifting typographic language.
Design: Andrew Johnson, Jake Kincaid, Jerome Lousick
Animation: Larry Brown
Creative Direction: Paul Miller
Project Management: Sarah Blumenstein
















Title
EA Skate.
Agency
Max Amato
Client
YG21 | Max Amato
Annual ID
YG21_Amato_30
Category
2023 YG Work: YG21
CLIENT
Electronic Arts
ROLE IN PROJECT
Design Director.Working under the creative direction of Paul Miller, I was the design director on the project, leading conceptual exploration, client presentations, creation of final assets, and also developing a robust brand guidelines document. Additional tasks included working with an animator to develop a motion toolkit, as well as a custom shape-shifting typographic language.
PROJECT CREDITS
Studio: CharacterDesign: Andrew Johnson, Jake Kincaid, Jerome Lousick
Animation: Larry Brown
Creative Direction: Paul Miller
Project Management: Sarah Blumenstein
New York Vs New York
As an obsessive basketball fan, and frequent pickup basketball player, I partnered with the Nike NYC team as the primary creative on the project. Working under the creative direction of Carlo Luetto, I was given the opportunity to help refresh the identity and art direction of the 2022 NYVSNY tournament.
Deliverables were widely varied, including photo and video art direction of content, court design, jersey design, social and OOH campaigns, motion direction, and more.
Role: Design, Art Direction
Creative Direction: Carlo Luetto
Production: Reese Lynette
Event Production: Game7
Writing: Manny Maduakolam
Brand Narrative: Justin Paras
Photography and Videography: Javez Antonio, Jessica Foley, Alex Telez, Vincent Giovinazzo, and Marcel Severino.
Animation: Diego Salinas















Title
New York Vs New York
Agency
Max Amato
Client
YG21 | Max Amato
Annual ID
YG21_Amato_40
Category
2023 YG Work: YG21
CLIENT
Nike
ROLE IN PROJECT
Lead Designer.As an obsessive basketball fan, and frequent pickup basketball player, I partnered with the Nike NYC team as the primary creative on the project. Working under the creative direction of Carlo Luetto, I was given the opportunity to help refresh the identity and art direction of the 2022 NYVSNY tournament.
Deliverables were widely varied, including photo and video art direction of content, court design, jersey design, social and OOH campaigns, motion direction, and more.
PROJECT CREDITS
Client: Nike NYCRole: Design, Art Direction
Creative Direction: Carlo Luetto
Production: Reese Lynette
Event Production: Game7
Writing: Manny Maduakolam
Brand Narrative: Justin Paras
Photography and Videography: Javez Antonio, Jessica Foley, Alex Telez, Vincent Giovinazzo, and Marcel Severino.
Animation: Diego Salinas
Body Language


















Title
Body Language
Agency
Max Amato
Client
YG21 | Max Amato
Annual ID
YG21_Amato_50
Category
2023 YG Work: YG21
CLIENT
Personal Project
ROLE IN PROJECT
Artist
PROJECT CREDITS
Additional design and fabrication support on the coffee table: Chris Lu
Perfect

















Title
Perfect
Agency
Max Amato
Client
YG21 | Max Amato
Annual ID
YG21_Amato_60
Category
2023 YG Work: YG21
CLIENT
Scholastic
ROLE IN PROJECT
I am the sole author and illustrator of Perfect.
PROJECT CREDITS
Editor: David Saylor
Campaign
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2023 Awards
YG Winner
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