Dec the Spec Custom Darts Shirt Design

I am delighted to have a wonderful working relationship with Bardon Premier League and am delighted to see them grow as a solid Darts league and promotion - and now starting to sponsor players

One of their new players is a man called Dec 'The Spec' - He has been spotted by Chris Pick and the team at Bardon as a player of the future and one to watch and I was tasked with creating a shirt and logo for the young man as he takes his steps into the wide world of professional darts. It was a pleasure to get involved in the Dec the Spec Custom Darts Shirt Design process

Its a huge part of being a player - looking the part - when Dec is out and about playing darts in leagues and exhibitions, his confidence will be improved with a professional shirt and logo, rather than being one of the only ones without - it sets a standard of professionalism and belonging

Creating a logo for Declan to start was an absolute joy - he has such a unique and stylish look. Obviously being nicknamed 'The Spec' the logo had to reflect and feature his glasses. I was given a picture of Dec and ensured that his logo was the same as as his actual glasses.

I also used an emoji as the face - as its a classic look that everyone understands, is instantly recognisable, clean and fun. I changed the mouth of the emoji to a wider smile as I thought it seperated it from a basic emoji.

I was tempted to leave it at that and leave the focus on the SPEC'S - but after discussions with Dec's manager and his mother - it was (correctly) decided to include his 'bowl cut' hair do as well - making the logo an avatar of Dec himself (ideal for merchandising and creating into a toy)

Design of the shirt was another challenge - The basic design was based around a racecar drivers polo shirt. Lots of straight lines and sharp shapes to contrast with the round edges of the logo.

When chosing the colour scheme I stuck with the yellow / gold of the logo and Dec's hair colour, leaning more towards the gold tones to suggest the winning mentality of Dec the Spec.

One shirt was entirley gold (but in different tones) and an alternative colorway with eye catching reds and blacks with a gold trim around the shapes used.

I also added a montage of glasses within the pattern on the front and back

Declan and his team couldnt decide between the two colours and decided to go with both shirts and is stepping into the beginnings of his darting career - and I am delighted to be a small part of Declan's journey