American Heart Association

Overview
This project was created as a submission for the T-shirt design contest hosted by the American Heart Association. The goal of the contest was to develop a fun and engaging shirt design that promotes heart health awareness while encouraging positive lifestyle habits. The design received 1st Place in the competition.

Tools
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop

Design Goal
The objective of this design was to communicate an uplifting message about heart health in a playful and approachable way. The design needed to appeal to a wide audience while reinforcing the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle through visual storytelling.

Design Concept
The concept behind “The Hearty Healthy Club” uses friendly, character-driven illustrations to represent healthy living. The main characters—a smiling heart and a carrot—symbolize the connection between heart health and nutrition.

These characters are designed with energetic expressions and movement to suggest activity, positivity, and vitality. Supporting elements such as fruits, vegetables, and heart icons reinforce the theme of wellness and healthy choices.

Typography plays a major role in the composition, with bold, retro-inspired lettering that creates a sense of energy and fun while maintaining strong readability on apparel.

Visual Elements

Playful illustrated characters representing healthy habits

Bold typography to emphasize the message

Food icons that reinforce nutrition and wellness

A heartbeat graphic supporting the slogan “Have Heart, Stay Healthy”

Process
The design process began with sketching character concepts that could communicate heart health in a lighthearted and approachable way. After developing several character variations, the final illustrations were digitized and refined in Adobe Illustrator.

Typography and graphic elements were then arranged to create a balanced composition suitable for apparel printing while maintaining clarity and visual impact.

Outcome
The final design successfully communicates the message of heart health through engaging characters and bold graphic elements. Its playful tone and clear message helped the design stand out in the competition, earning 1st place in the American Heart Association shirt contest.