“Mundo” — carrying the world

The first design took the name Mundo literally.

Johnny was drawn as an exaggerated muscular figure carrying the globe across his shoulders, using the visual language of heroic wrestling imagery while playing directly on the meaning of his ring name.

The concept needed to read immediately from a distance and retain its impact when reproduced as apparel graphics, so the composition was kept bold, graphic and character-driven.

Designing around a performance persona

Professional wrestling sits somewhere between sport, performance, theatre and popular visual culture.

A wrestler’s appearance, name, attitude and recognisable details are part of the character presented to the audience. Merchandise therefore has to do more than reproduce a likeness: it needs to extend that persona into a graphic object fans want to wear.

Johnny’s long hair, sunglasses, athletic physique and confident presentation gave the artwork a clear visual vocabulary to work with.

“This Is My World”

The second design developed the same idea through a different visual structure.

Johnny’s glasses, hair and illustrated likeness were combined with the line “This Is My World”, turning the name Mundo into both a verbal and visual theme.

The two concepts therefore belonged to the same persona while giving the merchandise line different graphic options rather than simply repeating one illustration.

Working directly with Johnny Mundo

I worked directly with Johnny during the development of the designs, shaping the drawings around the way he presented himself as a wrestler.

That direct collaboration mattered because wrestling merchandise is closely connected to the performer’s own sense of character. The artwork needed to feel recognisably his rather than like a generic muscular character with a name added afterwards.

The finished graphics were produced as merchandise designs and released as part of his wrestling apparel.

Illustration for entertainment, sport & merchandise

The same principles apply beyond professional wrestling.

Illustrated merchandise can be developed around a performer, athlete, band, event, fictional character or established public persona.

Depending on the project, that can include:

• T-shirt and apparel graphics
• tour or event merchandise
• character-based artwork
• poster illustration
• collectible graphics
• promotional artwork
• social-media visuals
• event branding
• illustrated campaign assets

Artwork designed to be worn

An apparel graphic has different demands from an illustration created only for a screen or printed page.

The image has to survive movement, folds, distance and changing scale. The silhouette needs to read quickly, important details must remain legible, and the overall composition has to work as part of the garment rather than as a rectangular picture simply placed on it.

That is why I approach merchandise artwork as a design problem as well as an illustration problem.

Character illustration built from a real personality

One of the interesting aspects of this project was translating a real person into a deliberately heightened illustrated character.

The goal was not portrait realism. It was to identify the features that made Johnny Mundo instantly recognisable and exaggerate them in a way that suited the visual language of professional wrestling.

This approach can be useful whenever a public figure, performer, founder or spokesperson needs an illustrated version of their existing identity rather than an unrelated fictional character.

Disciplines

• Merchandise Illustration
• Apparel Graphics
• Character Illustration
• Portrait Stylisation
• Entertainment Design
• Concept Development
• Visual Storytelling
• Promotional Illustration