Sports Equipment Graphic Designer for Premium Pickleball Paddle

PROJECT: Refine an existing pickleball paddle product graphics system for HALVERN — a premium American pickleball paddle brand inspired by Filson, YETI, and Rhone. Budget: $75 fixed price. Turnaround: 5-7 days. ======================================== WHAT IS ALREADY LOCKED (do not redesign): ======================================== - Brand name: HALVERN - Paddle physical shape (from factory CAD/DXF, untouchable) - Color palette: Carbon Black #0A0A0A, Naval Blue #1A4268, Brick Burgundy #8B2C35, Warm White #F2F0EA, Gunmetal #565A5C - Typography system: Archivo Black + Inter Black, locked tracking and width - Core visual concept: oversized bleed-out H graphic on the face, vertical HALVERN side wordmark, narrow color band callout at top - Aesthetic: Quiet Luxury, masculine, restrained, premium American sporting equipment Your job is to REFINE this existing system — balance, kerning, hierarchy, production-ready handoff. NOT to invent a new direction. ======================================== DO NOT APPLY IF YOUR PORTFOLIO IS MOSTLY: ======================================== - Logo design only (we already have a locked type system) - Social media posts / Instagram tiles - Flyers / posters / brochures - Amazon PPC / Amazon listing images - SEO / marketing collateral - AI-generated artwork or Midjourney portfolios - Pure brand strategy / brand identity workshops - T-shirt POD / print-on-demand merch - Textile / wallpaper repeat surface patterns - New brand creation from scratch We will reject these on sight regardless of cover letter quality. ======================================== WHO WE WANT: ======================================== Demonstrable experience in: - Product surface graphics (paddles, racquets, helmets, bikes, skis, equipment surfaces) - Packaging design with production handoff (die-lines, Pantone callouts, tech-pack-ready files) - Sporting goods, outdoor gear, or athletic equipment visual systems - Soft goods / industrial product graphics - Strong Adobe Illustrator workflow with production-ready output - Working from existing brand guidelines without rewriting them Reference aesthetic: Filson, YETI, Rhone, Topo Designs, Patagonia Black Series. ======================================== TO APPLY, INCLUDE IN YOUR PROPOSAL: ======================================== 1. ONE LINK to your strongest product graphics OR packaging project (NOT a logo, NOT a social post, NOT an Amazon listing). If your portfolio is on Behance or your own site, link the specific project page — not the homepage. 2. ONE PARAGRAPH (your own words, not ChatGPT) on how you would approach refining a near-final paddle face that already has locked colors, locked type, and a locked H graphic concept. Do NOT propose a new direction — explain how you would PROTECT the existing one. 3. Confirm you can deliver final production-ready Illustrator files within $75 fixed and 5-7 days. Generic AI-written cover letters, applications that ignore the brief, and proposals suggesting a brand redesign will be archived without response. Thank you.