THE JOCKEY
AUTOGRAPH BOOK

NYRA // Editorial Design & Concept // 1 Week

Bringing back a concept from 2015, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) had decided to revive the Jockey Autograph Book. Having previously used very generic Jockey profile pictures and images of the Saratoga Race Track as covers for previous iterations, I wanted to steer away from the generic and stale and try something worthy of a collectible. Something a little more modern & sleek, while still keeping the Jockey as the hero was the goal.

After researching countless "Tip Sheets" and "Program" ads, I noticed "Jockey Silks" were always used but never featured. It seemed more of an accessory, an exclamation point, or parenthesis in an elaborate paragraph and never a feature. I knew I wanted to incorporate the various stylish silks in a more prominent role somehow. Eventually using a jockey silks pattern as the back for the book.

An Impactful Cover

One of the biggest impacts I wanted to have when revamping the Jockey Autograph Book was to create an impactful cover. Many of the previous iterations felt dated and rushed, I wanted this book to look and feel premium. My goal was to make it a sought after collectible. 

a last minute change.

Having intially thought of this book as a comemorative item for adults we found out an hour before production that the book would actually be targeted towards children. Inspired by our cover athlete that year, the solution was right in front of us. Unfortunately, I feel I copped out a bit by adding the toddler style polka dots to give it more of a kid friendly vibe, but hey, you do what you can with only a few minutes left on the clock! 

After a last minute scramble to find the delivery, the J.A.B.'s made it to the show & were a huge success!

And all the kids were happy!