Monday, February 17, 2020


Matt Johnson

All of Kansas City shouted for joy on February 2nd this year as the Kansas City Chiefs won the title of Super Bowl LIV Champions. For fellow Kansas Citian and Keepsake Artist Matt Johnson, that day was made extra special by being the artist who got to design the Keepsake Ornament celebrating the win! “I am a Chiefs fan and Hallmark is such a huge part of Kansas City and the Chiefs Kingdom,” he said. “It’s just incredible to think we have been waiting 50 years for another Super Bowl! All of the history and traditions passed down from the generations really make this special. Between the Royals winning the World Series after a 30-year drought and the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl after 50—my kids couldn’t have picked a better time to live in Kansas City for sports. It’s amazing to be designing a Christmas ornament for the Super Bowl Champion team to begin with, but to have it be your home team winning makes it all the more incredible!”

Designing a championship ornament took months of work and preparation, and even meant designing for multiple teams. “I began working on a variety of concepts for the graphics and then landed on a final solution that was submitted to the NFL way back in March of last year,” said Matt. “I used a 3D sculpted football that Keepsake Artist Orville Wilson had created for personalized Keepsake Ornaments and then designed the printed piece that could attach to it. I wanted the typography to be center aligned with the football and ‘Champions’ to be a strong read. I chose to use the team’s color as the background to create contrast and help the graphics really pop off of the ball. I also wanted the winning team and the Super Bowl LIV logos to be prominently featured. After all of that work, we then waited anxiously until the playoffs to submit each remaining team to the NFL for approval.”

But even though multiple designs had been submitted, Matt was hoping his home team would bring home the trophy. “I was always refining the design and looking at it through the lens of the Chiefs being the team that would win and that would be the official ornament,” he said.

So did he have a good luck charm to ensure a Chiefs win? “Catrick Mahomes is our lucky cat,” Matt said. “The statue was originally decoupaged in a burnt orange patchwork design and had been traded around at multiple white elephant gift exchanges in the Keepsake Studio. In 2018, a few people in the studio painted him gold and dressed him in a red Mahomes football jersey and headband with hair. I brought him home during the playoffs to create a Chiefs shrine and took him everywhere we watched the team play! I think he was good luck and he now sits back in my office awaiting the 2020 season!”

– By Hallmark Senior Editor,
Lindsay Evans

Johnson, Matt. “At My Desk – Matt Johnson (Go Chiefs!).” Hallmark Keepsake Community, February 02, 2020. https://keepsakecommunity.hallmark.com/share/at-my-desk-matt-johnson-go-chiefs.