Skydive Orange is a premier, club-operated drop zone located in Orange, Virginia. For the 2025 season, Orange is hosting a Sisters in Skydiving weekend to celebrate the small but formidable community of female skydivers. The theme this year is "Garden Party" and I volunteered to help create some of the swag that will be given to event participants as part of their registration. Instead of creating a typical event t-shirt, I worked with Skydive Orange management and Buff to create fully customized neck gaiters. These neck gaiters are a critical but often overlooked piece of gear, especially for those with longer hair that is susceptible to getting tangled after flying through the sky at 120 mph.
After a recent trip to Spain, I was inspired to take a mediterranean spin on "Garden Party." Southern Spain is well known for its streets lined with groves of orange trees, and mid-July in Virginia can certainly feel just as hot. I got to work researching the traditional azulejo tile designs that are also ubiquitous in Spain and Portugal, and developed a fully repeatable pattern in Adobe Illustrator. The design features flowery patterns alongside an orange (of course), a Twin Otter airplane, and a formation of skydivers. The design also features "Skydive Orange" with orange blossom flowers, but we decided against including the event name so that any extra Buffs could be sold in the gear shop. The colors were also specifically chosen to reflect the rich blues of azulejo tiles and the orange of the drop zone's namesake, while providing a more economical option with fewer ink colors.
Concept sketch created in Procreate
Concept sketch created in Procreate
Typography exploration for the "Skydive Orange" tile emblem
Concept sketches and typography exploration
Final, infinitely repeatable pattern created in Adobe Illustrator
Custom matte-mirror stickers created for event participants, based on the Buff design. The larger sticker includes the full event name, while a smaller 1.5" tall sticker is the perfect size for skydiving helmets.
This project is ongoing, but I'm excited to share deliverables as they are created.
Stay tuned for more!!
