I had the honour to work with a local, family owned Martial Arts Studio at Elite Leadership Martial Arts.  One of their core business goals revolves around teaching youth, physical fitness, self-respect, and character development through their Kids Martial Arts program. They also teach an older demographic of teens and adults with their Fitness Kickboxing program.  

They requested a simple dragon illustration to place on their merchadise that can be worn by kids and adults alike. The creative process started with researching different dragon representations in various cultures to gather inspiration and ensure cultural sensitivity. Since this studio teaches a variety of different  disciplines from around the world,  I chose to focus on illustrating a Western styled dragon, as it fit the demographic of their client base. 

Then I spoke with the business owners to understand their vision, values, and the target audience. Their goal was to showcase an empowering and strong dragon to instill motivation and drive of their clients fitness goals. 

We decided on the idea of placing a dragon in a fierce pose,  holding on to and protecting their logo as the final concept. After several rounds of feedback and revisions, we reached a final design that perfectly represented the studio's playful yet martial arts-focused identity.