The club made a tremendous jump in the spring of 2021 when we began the process of designing our first fully custom uniforms with PUMA with a silhouette and design completely unique to New Mexico in all of world football. Achieving that ambition represented a proven substantial and sustained demand for United's jerseys year over year, enough to justify the quantity that comes with a custom production run by one of the world's largest manufacturers, along with a lasting vote of confidence from PUMA to collaborate on a one of a kind design true to the identity of New Mexico United and Meow Wolf. Dubbed "The Artist Jersey", the black & yellow splatter was a simple yet evocative primary pattern that brought the best out of the black & yellow while allowing the 3 brands of Meow Wolf, United, and PUMA to shine through. Some see the splatter of an artists paintbrush, others see a yellow-tinted night sky full of starts so common in the largely unpolluted New Mexican skies, while others see the whole ensemble as an explosion of confetti and an excuse to party much in the way one would in the throngs of the supporters section at a United home game. As bold as the design, the silhouette anchored the jersey in the feeling of an instant classic, with the newly adopted 4 stripe mark sitting on the back nape of the neck. All in all, the primary representation of United and Meow Wolf was the boldest it had ever been, and has gone on to be a relentless bestseller.

As is always the brief in unveiling a Meow Wolf campaign, the assignment was to let this new staple of the merch line shine while letting our collective creativity run wild. Produced entirely in house by United's Creative Team, the launch video was directed by me, edited and shot by Isaiah Watts and David Young with production assistance from Carlo Martinez and Jay Scribe. The video features original music by Albuquerque's own Jay Scribe. Photographs made by Eric Lovato and myself. Special thanks as always to the team at Meow Wolf Santa Fe for their accommodation of our crew in between the overnight window when the exhibition is closed to the public, as well as Netflix Studios for the use of their soundstage.

Each season, the Meow Wolf Night matchis one of the dates on the annual New Mexico calendar (and United schedule) that gets everyone excited, die hard fan or not. It's a celebration of the New Mexican creativity and originality that has borne two of New Mexico's most successful brands of the last decade in which attendees are encourage to attend as their most creative selves. Of course, as part of that event, United and Meow Wolf unveil a limited edition artist designed jersey to be worn on the field for that game. Designed by Meow Wolf's on staff Graphic Designer Caleb Ortega alongside myself, "The Portals Jersey" was a dive into the holographic aesthetic mirrored in the portals that drive Meow Wolf exhibits through their experiential storylines. Developed in a black and a white base colorway (the white to be worn by the goalkeeper and the black by outfield players), the jerseys (along with flags, scarves, and hats mirroring the design) sold out in-store, online, and in-stadium within an hour or each retail location's opening.

As if it wasn't already fun enough to shoot at Meow Wolf, we collaborated with the actors of Santa Fe-based immersive theater company Exodus Ensemble on the production of The Portals Jersey campaign. The video was co-directed by David Young and myself, shot by David Young and Isaiah Watts along with production assistance from Lili Esparza, Bella Cash, Carlo Martinez, and Jay Scribe. Photographs made by myself and Eric Lovato.

The crux of New Mexico United and Meow Wolf's partnership is celebrating New Mexican artists, Niko Salazar, aka Future Fantasy Delight, has rightfully become one of the household names in New Mexico over the last 8 years. One of the original contributing artists to Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return exhibit in Santa Fe, Niko's style is an immediately recognizable blend of Japanese cartoon & anime aesthetics married to his New Mexican characters rooted in his family history and Albuquerque upbringing. For the 2021 Meow Wolf Night, Niko, myself, and Meow Wolf's SVP of Merchandise Luciano Mor co-designed two jerseys and limited edition scarves, stickers, playing cards, and flags, all of which featured 5 distinct characters of Niko's own creation. Each character came with an original backstory linking their design as one of the carious creatures representative of New Mexico to a common footballer trope or trait.

The launch campaign was produced in house by United's Creative Team, codirected by myself and Niko, featuring models in his community, shot by myself, David Young, and Isaiah Watts.

In 2020, PUMA was announced as United's new partner for all team attire, replacing Adidas which had outfitted the team in it's first season but was proving unable to match the club's creative ambitions or supply the surge of demand seen in the first season. The first two years saw the introduction of a true to United's brand yellow away kit along, with both the away and home jersey designed from the classic PUMA silhouette that had outfitted clubs around the world. The key differentiator of course being the United brand, the world's most unique sponsor, and the 4 stripes across the jersey's midline, a continuation of the shield's reference to the Zia sun symbol. The away kit was launched at the 2020 Black & Yellow Bash, about 1 month before the COVID-19 pandemic caused a suspension of the season. The black home was only launched in August due to a litany of complications from COVID, but through the pandemic both still became successful sellers, continuing United's status as the best-selling merchandise brand in the league. The campaigns for both uniforms were produced entirely in house by the United Creative Team, directed by myself, shot around the state by Marcos Travers, Isaiah Watts, and myself, and feature a mix of players, local artists, and community leaders including members of the Laguna Pueblo and multigenerational New Mexican families. Photographs are made by me.

It's like if the soccer world and art world got together at burning man and had a dress up contest party, and then all got really stoked on a game of soccer which just so happened to be going down in the middle of that party. Since it's first iteration in 2019, Meow Wolf Night has been the game on the annual United schedule that, along with the Home Opener, New Mexicans jostle to secure tickets for. Many treat it as Halloween in the middle of summer, with costume contest winners being awarded round trip all-inclusive trips to visit Meow Wolf exhibitions in Las Vegas and Denver. It's probably the weirdest aesthetic in world football for one night only, but invariably leads to one of the most raucous atmospheres, and a uniquely New Mexican celebration of creativity that brings out the best in every supporter. Photographs featured below shot by United Gameday Staff including Sam Katz, Gracie Meier, Riley Russell, Aubree Sparks, Zak Coker, and myself.

In February of 2019 the Meow Wolf partnership and jersey was introduced to mix of amazement, celebration, confusion, and demand that far outweighed the initial stock. Call those good problems and growing pains. The splash was felt in the football and art worlds, and suddenly New Mexico had the world's attention with the promise of bringing art into sport as never before. The launch campaign, produced in the obscure and playful voice distinct to Meow Wolf, was produced by Jak & Flux (now mood), codirected and edited by Phillip Torres and myself. Photographs by myself.

Part of pushing the boundaries of the partnership led us to asking the question, "What if we launched a limited edition jersey in an opponent's stadium at an away game?" There was at least a reason for the foray into absurdist thinking, Meow Wolf's Las Vegas installation, Omega Mart, had long been on the partnership's collaborative to-do list, and in September of 2022, United would be playing in Vegas against the Las Vegas Lights. That was excuse enough to design a special edition jersey in collaboration with PUMA, fly the creative team out to Vegas, and produce the launch content for what was considered by many as "the weirdest thing" they'd ever seen from a sports partnership. In the language of Meow Wolf, that's a raving review. This roll out campaign war produced entirely in-house, with the script developed by myself and members of Meow Wolf's creative staff, shot on location at Omega Mart by David Young, Jay Scribe and myself, directed by me and edited by David Young. Special thanks to the Omega Mart staff who starred in the production and allowed us to use the space. All photographs made by me.

The first ever "specialty" jersey was brought to life ahead of the first Meow Wolf Night in United's 2019 Inaugural Season. Despite the early lessons it offered both staffs of the companies collaborating on it's design, myself and Meow Wolf's merchandise team in the end having to settle for a method of production and vendor out of a time crunch, the jersey was a massive success, selling out in its first day and continuing to set the expectations that merch made in collaboration between United and Meow Wolf ought to be ordered with a different set of guideposts. The announcement photographs were all made by me with production assistance from Celia Higson.