San Francisco Archers: Club Championship belt Refresh
Updating the belt to give more motivation
OVERVIEW
SF Archers hold an annual banquet where they announce the winner of their club shoot and present them with a prize belt for their achievement. They recently found that their usual awards had run out and they needed to order new ones.
They brought me in to do a full refresh of the design, since it had not been updated in a long time and people were tired of receiving the old design.
CHALLENGE
I was asked to update the design so the award would appeal to the people attending the banquet, generating interest in more people participating in the club shoot. It would also start conversations with non-members, motivating them to join the club and take part in the shoot.
STRATEGY
I looked at the other archery clubs in the area and asked whether they offered a belt as a prize, to see if their designs would give me ideas for designing the belt.
IMPACT
Rapid 5-Day Turnaround
Streamlined research, AI ideation, and vector creation into a tight 5-day delivery window, meeting all club milestones.
Modernized Brand Heritage
Blended traditional archery legacy with contemporary typography, depth, and metallic finishes for a premium, timeless feel.
Production-Ready Assets
Delivered clean, precise vector specifications engineered for flawless translation into physical metal casting.
What I found: Yahi Bowmen was the only club whose website showed belts as prizes, offering three belt designs for three of their archery shoots.
What it meant for my design: Yahi’s grand belt was unique to their club. Since this belt is for the club shoot, I designed it to be unique to SF Archers’ members.
Cowboy belt buckles
I also looked at cowboys, who are famous for wearing belts with personalized buckles.
After looking at hundreds of examples, the same elements showed up again and again: a rope frame around the edge, decorative paisley scrollwork around the base, a central emblem, and text set on a ribbon or banner.
What it meant for my design: The best buckles worked as a personal trophy that the wearer shows off, so I borrowed these elements and tied them back to archery, such as using the rope frame to reference a bowstring.
EXECUTION
With all the ideas gathered, I looked at what the old belt looked like, what needed to be kept, and what could be replaced.
The original design was simply bare, with no decoration at all and a canvas that was basically all black. That gave me the freedom to create a new design while keeping the deer logo, since it is the club’s identity.
I wanted the belt to feel special without being loud, so I kept the rope frame and the colors simple. Based on my research, I added:
RESULTS
The club approved the design and ordered it for this year’s banquet. Because the belt was just presented, I haven’t measured participation yet. Next year’s club shoot turnout will show whether it worked.
The people who received it praised the updated design.
Some past winners who also won this year were even more delighted and proud to add it to their collection. They are more likely to show it off and wear it when they shoot archery.
Past winners who did not win this year were ecstatic to see it and are more motivated to participate in the event to earn one next year.
Some people were not interested in the belt and would have preferred a different prize. But after seeing the design, they were excited by it and happy for the people who received it.
Rope frame border: Instantly signals a prize belt while subtly referencing a bowstring.
Subtle paisley background: Replaces the flat, empty base with rich texture that doesn't feel loud.
Dedicated text ribbon: Frames "San Francisco Archers, Club Champion," giving the lettering breathing room and legibility away from the deer.
Isolated deer logo: Adds a contrasting background so the deer stands out as the focal point instead of blending into the black canvas.
Restrained color palette: Keeps the design refined and elegant rather than overly fancy.
