Building bolder brands since 2018.
About the Studio
Zilligen Design Studio is a mighty sports branding studio with roots in Chicagoland, IL and currently located in Upstate, SC. Founded in 2018, Zilligen Design Studio strives to enhance brand presence for sports organizations by way of full-service brand identity design, custom typeface design, and supporting illustration.
Style and Approach
Our approach heavily incorporates strategic thinking and story-telling – focusing in on a brand direction that connects with an audience on a deeper level. Brand discovery and goal-setting through strategy is vital for the project’s overall success. Using design to tell the brand’s story is key, as consumers are more likely to engage with a brand they can create a connection with.
We believe good design carefully balances story and aesthetic. It needs to communicate a feeling in as few words as possible, leaving enough mystery for viewers to ponder upon. Good design needs to be able to adapt to its environment, being equally appealing on a billboard as it would be embroidered on a hat making every detail critically selective. Typography must evoke a feeling while enhancing the reading experience.
About CJ
CJ Zilligen is a self-taught logo designer, typeface designer, illustrator, and branding specialist.
Growing up, his sketchbooks were flooded with drawings of his favorite athletes and sports logos. Inspired by a 2005 NFL Team Tracker magazine, CJ drew up logos for 32 fictional football franchises that would later snowball in to a giant personal project.
In 2010, CJ took up design on the family computer, studying his favorite sports logos and attempting to recreate them in Adobe Illustrator. He designed t-shirts for the soccer and cross country teams for the two high schools he attended in the Chicagoland area, and the seed was planted. Shortly after, opportunities started to sprout and freelancing began.
In late 2012, CJ enrolled at North Central College to pursue a degree in Interactive Media Studies. Meanwhile, freelance work was steady, operating in a make-shift office that was a small college dorm room.
Before completing a full year, he dropped out and pursued design as a career full-time.
Six months later, CJ accepted a position as an in-house graphic designer at Jimmy John’s, a popular sandwich chain in the midwest.
The opportunity provided a breadth of real-world experience, working on anything from ad campaigns to store design, product packaging to car liveries for NASCAR sponsorships.
In August of 2017, after nearly 4 years working in-house, CJ left Jimmy John’s to scratch a nagging itch: he wanted to start a design business working with brands in the sports industry. The following calendar year, a self-titled, one-man team called “CJ Zilligen Design Studio” was born.
The studio has since been renamed, but the focus remains the same – develop visual identities and custom typography for brands of the sports industry.
Select Clients & Creative Partners
NASCAR, FOX Sports, Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Antonio Spurs, University of Tennessee, UNC-Charlotte, Overtime Elite, & more.