The San Francisco 49ers are engaged in a month-long campaign to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month. The celebration includes Latinx fan feature videos, new Spotify playlists with Bay Area Latinx artists, and much more. The NFL franchise’s inhouse marketing and creative team has led much of the effort and, as in that spirit, enlisted the help of 49ers employee Emilio Cortez – the catch is, he is first and foremost an educator for the 49ers EDU program but is also a talented artist in his spare time. Knowing this and his pride in being Latinx, Emilio was recruited to work directly with the graphic design team to produce artwork for the campaign which will be seen across 49ers platforms all season long.
He tells GDUSA: “My main inspiration is the wide array of colors that are seen throughout Latinx art. Growing up I always enjoyed seeing all the vibrant colors and designs that are very prominent not only in my Mexican heritage but throughout the rest of Latinx communities. I wanted to make sure I could represent the Latinx community in a unique way and still connect it back to the game of football. Being able to paint directly on the NFL football gave me the opportunity to showcase Latinx inspired art in a unique way. Although I am an employee in the 49ers EDU department, it feels great to be able to collaborate with the creative and marketing team on fun projects like this. It’s an honor to be able to represent for the Latinx community through my art and the game of Football.”
Art Director Aaron Llavore heads the 49ers in house creative team. The NFL’s theme for the month has been “Por La Cultura” (For the Culture) as teams across the league help amplify the Latinx culture and voices through different programming.
