The Challenge

Poison Pawn’s mission is clear: Chess is more than a game—it’s the key to unlocking mental mastery. To stand out in a competitive landscape of training programs and athletic development, the brand needed to:

• Develop a bold, recognizable identity that spoke directly to elite competitors.

• Establish a cohesive brand voice and messaging that challenged conventional thinking.

• Build marketing materials, packaging, and merchandise that reinforced the brand’s mission.

• Ensure that every product and material served a strategic purpose in strengthening the player.

• Expand its reach to a broader audience, including professional and collegiate athletes.

Brand Naming & Visual Identity

• Named Poison Pawn, ensuring it reflected the brand’s strategic and disruptive nature.

• Built a bold, empowering brand identity to position Poison Pawn as the go-to for mental mastery.

• Developed a commanding brand voice—direct, decisive, and action-driven—to resonate with competitive athletes.

• Integrated chess as a metaphor for life and competition, ensuring all visuals and messaging aligned with the brand’s philosophy.

Marketing Collateral & Training Materials

• Designed materials that challenge and inspire, crafted to push limits and elevate performance.

• Developed training guides, playbooks, and presentations that reinforce strategic thinking and high-performance habits.

• Refined and developed messaging and tone, ensuring clarity and consistency across all materials.

• Ensured content aligned with the brand’s commitment to breaking old habits and fostering higher-level strategies.

Product & Packaging Design

• Designed chess boards in collaboration with the owner, refining sizing and aesthetics.

• Assisted with material sourcing to align with the brand’s premium and performance-driven ethos.

• Connected the owner with manufacturing contacts for prototype development and the first production lines.

• Developed packaging that reinforced the brand identity, ensuring each product felt like an elite, high-performance tool.

• Designed training materials and physical components to embody the brand’s strategic principles and enhance the player’s development.

• Ensured that every component—from boards to training materials—served to strengthen the player and reinforce decision-making techniques.

Merchandise Design

• Developed premium merchandise that expanded the brand’s presence:

  • T-shirts, stickers, pins, patches, wristbands – symbols of intellectual discipline.

  • Surfboards, water bottles, journals – extending the brand into everyday athlete culture.

• Ensured every item strengthened brand identity and loyalty among competitors.

The Process

Through research into elite athlete mindsets, competitive branding, and high-performance training, I developed a visual and messaging framework that positioned Poison Pawn as more than just a brand—it became a training philosophy.

• Iterated multiple design concepts to align visuals with Poison Pawn’s commitment to unlocking new ways of thinking.

• Crafted a messaging system that spoke directly to driven, competitive individuals.

• Worked closely with the team to ensure brand consistency across all platforms and products.

The Impact

• Positioned Poison Pawn as a disruptive, elite brand in the competitive strategy space.

• Created a bold and recognizable identity that resonates with high-level athletes.

• Designed materials that inspire and challenge, giving the brand a commanding presence in its niche.

• Helped establish product sourcing and packaging strategies that reinforced Poison Pawn’s elite status.

• Expanded Poison Pawn’s audience—the brand has gained significant attention in the media and led to new coaching opportunities for Seth Makowsky, including training UCLA Bruins, MSU Women’s Volleyball, and Team USA Synchronized Swimming.

Conclusion

Poison Pawn isn’t just a brand—it’s a strategic advantage. From the first concept to the final product, every element was crafted to break old patterns, reveal new strategies, and sharpen decision-making. Poison Pawn isn’t just playing the game—they’re changing how it’s played.