Interviewing the Guy Behind the Giants’ Uniforms, Field Graphics, and Other Visuals

Last week I wrote about the New York Giants’ new throwback uniform. One of the people I interviewed as I was preparing that article was Doug Murphy, the team’s longtime director of creative services. I’d never spoken with him before, and he was a revelation — knowledgeable, friendly, detail-oriented, and very uni-enthusiastic. In short, he totally Gets It™.

I soon learned that Murphy oversees the team’s uniforms and a whole lot more. His portfolio also includes designing all of the the team’s commemorative patches, on-field graphics, stadium-wall graphics, publications, ads, the ring of honor, tickets, season ticket packaging, and a lot more (he worked on everything shown in the photo above). He’s probably had as much of an impact on the Giants’ visual culture as any one person has had for any team over the past generation — but he’d never even been on my radar until two weeks ago.

I often refer to equipment managers as the unsung heroes of the uni-verse, but front office creative staffers like Murphy are arguably even more obscure and, depending on how much responsibility they’re given, more important. They get very little attention and work almost completely behind the scenes.

With all that in mind, I’ve done an in-depth interview with Murphy for this week’s Bulletin column, and I don’t mind saying it’s one of the best, most informative interviews I’ve ever done (mainly because of Murphy, not because of anything I did). If you’re a Giants fan, it’s essential reading; for everyone else, well, it’s still essential reading, because Murphy provides so much great info. I really think everyone will like this one.

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