INTERACTIVE
SOCIAL GAMES

Role: Art Direction, Production, Concept, Illustration

The Brief: Develop a new category of content for Bleacher Report — social-native games that turn passive scrollers into active participants.

Problem: Sports social media was drowning in the same formats: quote cards, highlight clips, hot takes. Engagement was becoming increasingly passive — people scrolling past content without stopping. B/R needed formats that demanded participation, not just consumption.

Insight: Sports fans are inherently competitive and obsessive about knowledge. If you give them a challenge that tests their fandom — a puzzle, a visual scavenger hunt, a memory test — they won't just engage, they'll share it to prove they know more than their friends.

Design Intent: I developed a suite of interactive formats: I-Spy carousels (a sprawling Lakers vs. Celtics illustration hiding dozens of Easter eggs, illustrated by Elio Moavero), rebus puzzles turning player nicknames into visual brain teasers (illustrated by Dan Evans), "Which Team is Missing?" carousel challenges with animated helmet reveals, and "Face-Off" — a story-native memory quiz using fast-paced animation. Each format was designed to be scalable and repeatable across sports. Co-directed with David Garcia and Ambrose Salmini.

Outcome: These formats became core to B/R's social media playbook. Interactive content outperformed prior benchmarks by 50%, boosting engagement and follower retention.