Honoring ‘Faithful’ fans and local creators with the San Francisco 49ers
“The creativity process, and how the artist is just one component of this ecosystem, feels relatable to football. The head coach, the offense, the defense, the special teams - they all work as a single unit with one goal in mind. I find that very powerful and inspiring. And it's very similar to how this mural came to be.”
Chris Martin
To be a loyal sports fan is to be faithful to your team, and in the Bay Area, legions of unwavering fans have cheered on the San Francisco 49ers for over 75 seasons.
In honor of the 49ers’ 10th season at Levi’s® Stadium, Adobe and the San Francisco 49ers are coming together to celebrate the rich diversity and creativity of the entire Bay Area community with the unveiling of two new fan-created murals. These in-stadium works of art embody the meaning of ‘Faithful to the Bay’. The new murals are a continuation of a collaboration that began during the 2022 season with the 49ers, Adobe and Levi’s Stadium.
We know that creativity is everywhere, and we continue to amplify it — on and off the field to inspire and enable anyone to express themselves. The murals will be unveiled during the 49ers first home game of the season on Thursday, September 21.
Read on to hear from the artists behind each mural.
Megan Badilla | Graphic Designer and Illustrator | San Francisco
'Faithful’ from the start
Growing up, we were huge Bay Area sports fans — our family has always been steeped in sports, even though I’m the most non-competitive person there is, I think everyone should win.
It’s the community and camaraderie of being a sports fan — all walks of life coming together to have fun and watch a game and rally behind a shared passion. It’s incredible.
It’s evermore, not fleeting
Faithful to the Bay mural by Megan Badilla
[Through my mural design] I honed in on the notion of staying ‘true’ to the Bay Area and elements that have stood the test of time. I wanted to create something that encompassed what people associate with the Bay that aren't fleeting.
I included things in my mural like public transit, but also natural occurrences like fog, specific trees, or even rocks and landforms that are instantly recognizable.
My intent was to marry that nostalgic feeling of so many things co-existing with the camaraderie and community of being a sports fan — featuring players alongside the fans as a unit, just as I see the Bay area as this beautiful amalgamation of so many things. A little bit compact, but also chaotic.
An accidental passion
Getting into graphic design was total chance, a high school art teacher encouraged it, and at the time I had no idea what those words even meant. Drawing has always been a staple to me, I just didn’t realize you could turn that into a career. I created a PowerPoint that I presented to my parents on why I should be able to study graphic design over business, framing it as the ‘creative side’ to a business degree. Spoiler, it worked!
The ‘hook’
I literally downloaded Adobe Creative Cloud on my first day of class. I didn’t even have a log in. But the whole experience of working within the suite of products, in graphic design and illustration classes was such a fun ride.
The notion of infinity with graphic design and illustration is what resonated with me and continues to excite me the most. I’m able to just live in a sketchbook at all times — with no turning a page or erasing. The infiniteness of my mind can just happen on the screen.
What fuels my passion
I've learned that I'm going to make my best work when I’m excited about something. If I love the mission behind the work that I do, which is working with young people and in education, that’s a consistent source of inspiration for me.
I've taught workshops on how to be a digital illustrator for high schoolers, and I’m currently working for KQED in their education department amplifying youth voices, teaching them how to create media and then broadcasting that through our channels.
“When I entered higher education, I had no idea that a career in illustrating, drawing or graphic design was possible, and now I just think the younger that people realize this, the better.”
Christopher Martin | Multi-Media Artist | Oakland and San Francisco
It’s always about community
The Bay Area is magic. The art community here is so tight knit. If you know one person, you know ten people, and everybody just works together. Nobody's working against each other or scrapping for resources. There's really an investment and the community lifts you up. Once you find your tribe, you feel embraced, and can really succeed. That faithfulness that they've given me, I've given it in return, and it's just been a full exchange of energy.
49ers Top 10 Moments mural by Christopher Martin
That showed through in my mural too — I approached it with open ears to create something special. I went thought various compositions using images and my signature font. From researching the game of football, I found a lot of parallels between it and larger creative projects. The ability to consistently show up for yourself and the work it takes to help accomplish a goal felt very similar to the synergy that a team of people have when bringing projects to life. The artist is just one component of this ecosystem and feels relatable to football. The head coach, the offense, the defense, the special teams, all the way down to the water boy. They all work as a single unit with one goal in mind. I find that very powerful and inspiring. And it's very similar to how this mural came to be.
California here we come
I’ve been creative for as long as I can remember. Once I graduated from an HBCU as a graphic design major, I packed my bags and came straight to California. I moved out with a couple friends that served as this support system for me. Thankfully one of my art colleagues had graduated before me, and moved to San Francisco, made friends, learned the environment was just that friend who knew everyone and had this incredible network.
I'm kind of shy and reserved, but through him I already knew everybody.
He had this idea to have an art show because he noticed myself and other friends around him were doing creative things — but we were only doing them in our sketchbooks.
Looking back, it was the beginning of my career, and things slowly started progressing from there. I started as a photographer, and when I came to California, I tried a new approach, and I eventually found myself using fabric as a medium to merge graphic design and finding the spark of inspiration from American traditional tattoos, which is so strong within the Bay Area.
Putting a soundtrack to art
What makes the culture of American Football so theatrical? They have these sharp camera shots and angles, and the narrator's voice just pulls you in. It's like a movie.
There’s always this consistency of trumpets and this orchestra that just engulfs you and brings the experience full circle.
So I think about it when I’m creating.
How are we going to dramatize this?
How are we going to pull up people's heartstrings?
How are we going to get people invested?
What's the story that we want to create?
And that's also a big thing of what I try to do as well, being a creative storyteller. When I create images, I think of the soundtrack that would play.
Showcasing local creators
Adobe and the San Francisco 49ers continue to create opportunities to support and amplify the work and stories of local creators.
If you happen to be local to the Bay Area and are attending a game this season, snap a photo in front of your favorite Adobe x 49ers mural, share on your social media channels and tag @Adobe