Barbour Design Inc.

Barbour Design Inc. Barbour Design creates the materials that close deals. Sponsorship decks. Brand experiences. Scalable marketing systems.

Built for sports, media, and organizations where every presentation counts.

09/03/2026

Here’s a quick tip for anyone building sponsorship decks or media kits.

Your reader feels the pace of your layout before they understand a single word on the page.

Tight spacing = they brace
Open spacing = they relax
Rare contrast = they pause on purpose
Too much contrast = they stop by accident

Before you send your next deck, scroll through it slowly and watch where your eye stops. That’s likely where your sponsor will pause too

We lost our borrowed Peacock streaming access before the Love Island USA Season 8 reunion. If you know that fandom, you’...
09/01/2026

We lost our borrowed Peacock streaming access before the Love Island USA Season 8 reunion. If you know that fandom, you’ll understand that missing reunion night was out of the question for at least one of my kids.

I stepped in to help, signed up for the basic plan, and ran into another paywall right away. The show, and the reunion my kids really wanted to see, was only available on a higher tier. 🫠

Was it annoying? For a moment. But from a business point of view, it was a smart move.

It made me think of when I used to pay extra for HBO just to watch The Sopranos. Peacock knew my kids wouldn’t miss that episode, and they knew I would pay to fix it. You don’t build loyalty by giving away your best content in the basic package. You put the main attraction where people have to commit.

This strategy doesn’t create value from nothing. It finds what people care about most and sets the price there.

What’s the one thing in your business you would never include in a basic package because it’s exactly what makes people upgrade?

Your audience senses the rhythm of a deck before they understand any of the words. Layout isn’t just about placing conte...
08/31/2026

Your audience senses the rhythm of a deck before they understand any of the words.

Layout isn’t just about placing content. It’s about pacing, and pacing is part of your strategy.

Latest newsletter explains why the answer to a heavy deck isn’t minimalism, but intentional contrast. Link in bio.

08/28/2026

A crowded sponsorship deck feels thorough. It usually isn’t.

Every extra slide makes the sponsor sort through more information before they get to your main point.

Before your next pitch, try removing the slide you’re least sure about. If your argument still works, that slide wasn’t needed. If it doesn’t, you’ve found your real message.

Editing isn’t the opposite of good design. It’s the strategy itself.

I’ve noticed I judge some of my favorite places by a pretty unusual standard:Can you believe we’re in Rochester right no...
08/27/2026

I’ve noticed I judge some of my favorite places by a pretty unusual standard:

Can you believe we’re in Rochester right now?

Twice within the past week, places close to home made me feel like I was somewhere else.

Maybe that’s what really draws me in. Not escaping somewhere familiar, but seeing somewhere familiar differently.

The right fit isn’t always what you expect. You just know it when you feel it.

ESPN just put RedZone courtside at the U.S. Open.Same name, same promise, new sport.And it’ll probably work. Tennis has ...
08/26/2026

ESPN just put RedZone courtside at the U.S. Open.

Same name, same promise, new sport.

And it’ll probably work. Tennis has the exact problem RedZone was built to solve: too many matches, not enough time, and viewers missing key moments.

But there’s a bigger bet hiding inside this one.

RedZone isn’t just a format, it’s a brand. And brands are valuable because they mean something specific.

Use it in football, tennis, college hoops, and everything else. Does it get stronger, or does it just become a word ESPN uses for anything fast-paced?

Read the full breakdown on Substack (link in bio)



Often, the slides you take out are more important than the ones you leave in.In sports marketing and brand design, we te...
08/24/2026

Often, the slides you take out are more important than the ones you leave in.

In sports marketing and brand design, we tend to measure value by addition: more assets, more lines, more slides. But real system longevity comes down to subtraction.

A jersey patch works because every bit of space was carefully considered. On the other hand, a crowded ribbon board shows what happens when no one wants to make hard choices.

If your brand toolkit only shows what you included and not why you left other things out, it isn’t really a strategy. It’s just a collection of files.

Why the edit is the ultimate design strategy in the latest newsletter. Link in bio.

When virtual field ads flicker or cover a player during the game, the sponsor is no longer just nearby. Instead, they be...
08/20/2026

When virtual field ads flicker or cover a player during the game, the sponsor is no longer just nearby. Instead, they become part of the distraction.

Leagues and broadcasters are adding dynamic digital ads to fields and courts to bring in new revenue without changing the venue. On paper, it seems like a smart move for efficiency and targeted marketing. But in reality, when tech glitches make a player disappear behind a digital logo, those high impression numbers can actually hurt the brand.

Sponsorship works best when fans’ excitement carries over to the brand. But if fans blame your logo for blocking a goal or a touchdown, that screen time does more harm than good.

Just because we have the technology to put ads everywhere in a broadcast does not mean we should use it that way.

Where do you draw the line between innovation and fan fatigue? Vote below:

1️⃣ Ads are fine, keep them coming
2️⃣ Tech needs to step back because it’s distracting
3️⃣ It’s already gone way too far

Drop a 1, 2, or 3 in the comments.

When a brand is this familiar, your brain stops reading the letters and just recognizes the pattern. That’s why when som...
08/19/2026

When a brand is this familiar, your brain stops reading the letters and just recognizes the pattern. That’s why when something is off, you can’t unsee it.

I saw a new Starbucks sign at the Jersey Shore. Big brands usually don’t leave these things to chance. They have lots of spec sheets, rules, and approval steps. Still, mistakes happen. Sometimes, all it takes is one person guessing instead of measuring, and years of careful work can be undone.

This mistake is funny, but it’s also a good reminder that consistency doesn’t happen by itself. You have to protect it at every step.

People trust a brand when it looks and feels the same everywhere. That trust fades a little each time the brand doesn’t live up to that standard.

Does this catch your eye the way it did mine, or would you have just walked by without noticing?

If a design system only works when you’re there to explain it, it’s not a system. It’s a dependency.In sports marketing,...
08/18/2026

If a design system only works when you’re there to explain it, it’s not a system. It’s a dependency.

In sports marketing, ex*****on hits hard and fast. What looks perfect in a presentation room gets handed off six weeks later with a sliced budget, tight deadlines, and 40 different aspect ratios to fill.

A true production mindset asks the uncomfortable questions before launch:
– Will this font break someone else’s workflow?
– Does this layout hold up on a stadium ribbon board AND an Instagram story?
– Can a production coordinator adapt this overnight without reading a 50-page brief?

Design for the person keeping the work alive under pressure.

Production mindset breakdown in the latest newsletter. Link in bio.

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