The Challenge
Barstool had a growing golf audience and a clear opportunity to sell to that audience. Rather than throwing the existing Barstool Sports logo onto golf products, Dave Portnoy wanted to create a new sub-brand for golf.
My Role
I've led the creative from the very first product and helped shape Barstool Golf as it turned into a real brand. That has meant designing the logo, building the visual system, and leading the creative for every product drop and campaign. I've managed the design process across dozens of releases, directed illustrators, and created launch assets for web, email, and social. Over time, I've gotten to see how design choices affect not just the brand’s look, but how people engage with it. This project pushed me to think about consistency, audience, and growth in a more structured way. It gave me the chance to build something with personality, then figure out how to keep that personality intact as it scaled.
Early Days
In the early days of my time at Barstool, there wasn’t always a plan. In fact, there was hardly ever a plan. We’ve gotten better at that since, but back then it was about trying something small, seeing if it worked, and making decisions from there. We launched two versions of a hat with what would become the Barstool Golf logo in 2018. The hats were presale, so we had no inventory risk. The response gave us what we needed to keep going and eventually build out the full brand. Being part of that from the start taught me how to move quickly, test ideas with intention, and build trust through small wins. That approach has stuck with me ever since.
Golf + Lifestyle
The Barstool Golf logo works well on polished golf apparel but the customers have also always had an appetite for more casual apparel as well. Part of what has made the Barstool Golf brand so successful is our ability to offer both performance golf apparel that looks good and tshirts that people want to wear. Between myself and the illustrators on my team, we've created dozens of awesome graphic tees that bring Barstool Golf into the everyday lives of golfers. Working across that full range, from clean technical design to playful graphic tees, taught me how to read the audience, follow what’s working, and keep the brand feeling consistent even as the style shifts.
Reaching Beyond Barstool
Barstool Golf is a brand that has found a way to reach beyond Barstool Sports in a lot of ways. From a commerce perspective, it has allowed us to sell to people who may not already know Barstool Sports. For as much success as Barstool Golf has had with Barstool fans, it has found similar success with your average golfer. Barstool Golf merchandise has consistently added incremental revenue and new customers to the Barstool Store ecosystem via performance marketing. Seeing who the Barstool Golf customer is and where they come from has helped me understand acquisition and retention campaigns on a new level.
Officially Licensed
The PGA license was a big moment for Barstool Golf. I've really enjoyed working with the PGA to create co-branded logos for specific tournaments and marketing assets for tournament specific collections. Working with an organization such as the PGA definitely brings a new set of rules, but as a designer, working within constraints while remaining creative is always a good exercise.
