The fans have yet to arrive at Levi’s Stadium. Game-day footballs are still pristine and no one knows yet what Bad Bunny has up his sleeve for the halftime show.
But Emeryville resident Erin Fong has already won big: She designed the official theme art for Super Bowl LX.
Bay Area artist Erin Fong(Courtesy of Erin Fong)
Fong’s work will appear in programs and on digital tickets on Sunday, February 8th. A larger collection of her custom letterpress prints created to honor 60 years of Super Bowl history is also on view in a primo spot in the lobby of Moscone North (747 Howard St., SoMa). The San Francisco convention center is hosting the Super Bowl Experience, the NFL’s interactive football theme park and fan festival, through Saturday, February 7th.
So how did Fong, a multidisciplinary artist known for her vibrant palette, score the biggest commission of her 15-year career? Basically, she got an email.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” Fong says. “The email came in early last year and it did have an nfl.com address so that seemed pretty legit. The NFL had seen my work on social media and checked out my website—they were looking for a local artist to create the Super Bowl theme art.”
The league was clearly drawn to Fong’s bold design sensibility, eye for vivid hues, and modern approach to traditional letterpress printing.
Her passion for the art form was sparked in college when she took an intensive three-week printing course. “The first time I cranked that press, I felt so connected to it,” she says. “I knew I wanted to keep it in my life, and the Bay Area has a really strong letterpress community.”
Crank away she did.
Erin Fong's Super Bowl art on display at Moscone Center North, home of the Super Bowl Experience.(Tyler McPherron)
Work on the Super Bowl LX project began in earnest in October and spanned several months, with ten-hour days becoming routine. Letterpress printing is slow and labor-intensive: each letter and line of spacing is handset, and every sheet of paper is fed by hand. “It’s not the most efficient process,” Fong says, “but that’s what makes it so special.”
The magic took place at the East Bay live-work space she shares with her partner, Tyler McPherron, a director of photography and cinematographer. Assisting in creating the Super Bowl LX theme art and 59 prints featuring iconic quotes from championship-winning teams: her trusty 1,000-pound, vintage 1960s Vandercook letterpress, one of the last models ever made.
“I used vintage wood type, some of which dates back to the 1800s, to create the hand-inked pieces,” Fong says. “These blocks have been passed down from print shop to print shop, so they carry little nicks and blemishes that tell their history.”
Fong let each quotation—from the likes of John Madden and Joe Montana to Bill Walsh and Marcus Allen—guide her as she designed the layered prints including eye-popping gradient backgrounds.
Erin Fong's Super Bowl art on display at Moscone Center North, home of the Super Bowl Experience.(Tyler McPherron)
“Many of the quotes speak to legacy,” she says. “Using this historic process to honor 60 years of the Super Bowl with bright, bold color felt like such a meaningful way to celebrate the tradition. I also appreciated that the NFL wanted to use a real letterpress [rather than digitally faking it] to highlight the craftsmanship.”
Grateful and still a little awed, Fong reflects on the moment: “I’m incredibly honored to have been chosen for this project and to present my work on such a massive stage,” she says. “It’s the Super Bowl. It’s so iconic. It’s so cool.”
We may not know who’ll win the game, but there’s one safe bet: a wave of new commissions is headed Fong’s way.
// Get tickets to the Super Bowl Experience and see Fong’s work IRL; learn more about the artist at erinloves.fun
