THE FADEAWAY
Founder & Creative Director
Overview
The Fadeaway was a community-driven basketball tournament launched as a branded cultural property in Toronto, designed to merge sport, media, and charitable impact. Built from the ground up, the event brought together athletes, creators, sponsors, and local organizations under a unified creative platform: Community Built by Basketball.
The Fadeaway was a community-driven basketball tournament launched as a branded cultural property in Toronto, designed to merge sport, media, and charitable impact. Built from the ground up, the event brought together athletes, creators, sponsors, and local organizations under a unified creative platform: Community Built by Basketball.
Objective
Develop a recognizable sports property rooted in basketball culture but expandable beyond a single event format
Create a partnership-ready platform that aligned brands with community impact
Spotlight emerging athletic and creative talent through a premium, media-forward experience
Role
Founder & Creative Director (End-to-End Ownership)
Developed brand positioning, identity system, and campaign narrative
Designed full visual language across uniforms, player assets, social, and event collateral
Created three targeted pitch decks (Athletes, Media, Sponsors) to drive acquisition and alignment
Led partnership outreach and secured brand sponsors including Celsius, BioSteel, Recalled Shop, and Xeist Sportswear
Directed all photo and video production
Managed social rollout strategy and content cadence
Oversaw logistics, scheduling, and vendor coordination
Strategic Approach
Rather than positioning The Fadeaway as a one-off tournament, it was built as a scalable branded experience.
Brand System Development
Established a cohesive visual identity adaptable across player cards, uniforms, digital content, and live event environments. Designed to scale into future editions and potential merchandise extensions.
Established a cohesive visual identity adaptable across player cards, uniforms, digital content, and live event environments. Designed to scale into future editions and potential merchandise extensions.
Talent-Led Distribution Model
Produced individualized branded player cards for 30 athletes and executed collaborative Instagram posts with each participant, turning players into distribution partners and organically expanding reach.
Produced individualized branded player cards for 30 athletes and executed collaborative Instagram posts with each participant, turning players into distribution partners and organically expanding reach.
Partnership Infrastructure
Structured sponsor integration into event touchpoints and media outputs, ensuring brand visibility extended beyond event day through digital amplification.
Structured sponsor integration into event touchpoints and media outputs, ensuring brand visibility extended beyond event day through digital amplification.
Execution
Timeline: 2-month development cycle
Phases:
Phases:
Strategy & Partnerships
Brand & Asset Development
Campaign Rollout
Live Event Production
All creative assets — from digital flyers to athlete portraits and overlays — were developed within a unified design system to ensure consistency across channels.
Outcomes
40,000+ social engagements driven primarily through player-led distribution
100+ in-person attendees
200+ lbs of donations collected for the Parkdale Food Bank
Successful integration of multi-brand sponsorships within a community-first framework
Reflection
The Fadeaway marked the development of a fully integrated cultural sports platform — balancing creative direction, operational logistics, sponsorship alignment, and community impact. The model was built to scale, with future iterations designed for expanded partnerships, broader media distribution, and increased attendance.
