Working with recognizable brands that span generations, one must pay special respect to the legacy of graphic iconography that has been established, while pushing to do something novel that arouses curiosity and interest.

As a child, the one fan club I was allowed to be a member of was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fanclub, and if you knew my parents, you would understand just how much nagging that took for me to make that happen. Working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a childhood dream come true, so the challenge for this design was silencing my inner fanboy and focusing my excitement to produce something that collectors would proudly display on their shelves, but also had the potential to reach new readers.

Researching the series, I understood that IDW’s TMNT was a bit darker and edgier than the Turtles we had grown accustomed to from recent films and animated series. Therefore, a conscious effort was made to distinguish itself from the child-friendly look and focus more on the adult reader and avid collector. The resulting success is something nobody could have imagined with high praise from critics, fans, and collectors alike; the series has gone on to establish itself as one of IDW’s longest running and best-selling collections.

During the ideation phase, sketching ideas produced almost too many options, ranging from sewers to pizza slices, renaissance masters to Japanese weaponry, the range of iconography was vast and desperately in need of filtering. Feedback from the editorial team of Justin Eisinger, Alonzo Simon, Bobby Curnow, and Tom Waltz proved essential in pairing ideas down to move to the comp stage. Once at the comp stage, a few possible design directions were shown to Nickelodeon, luckily, everyone preferred my weapon wrap illustration on the spine. The final design has gone on to be a fan favorite, which is evidenced by the many fan videos and images on social media of proudly displayed collections.