CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY
IN FORMER NFL PLAYERS
University Project | 2026
In my Design For Complexity course, I was tasked with designing an engaging article discussing a health related issue. This project challenged me to expand my skills in editorial layout, image treatment, and copywriting. Above all else, I was encouraged to create an intentional article that focused on a story that created awareness and a drive for positive change.
Why?
It's no surprise that the NFL is one of the most physically demanding sports. In recent years, studies have shown that players are at extreme risk for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy due to repetitive head injuries. Although, with many advances in helmet technology, the league has progressed towards safer gameplay. Allowing players a better opportunity at remaining healthy and even extending their careers. As a fan, it's easy to become desensitized to injuries in major sports. It's important for fans to be aware of the health risks that surround the NFL, in order to humanize professional athletes.
Aim
This article provides studies on the concerning presence of CTE in former NFL players and the symptoms that have led players to receive probable diagnosis. Aiming to provide awareness of the sports’ dangers, I’ve also focused on highlighting efforts that have led to safety improvements and encourage athletes to consider opting in to wearing refined protective gear.
This article was designed to fit in with the constraints of Men’s Health Magazine. Fully mapped out, this article follows the magazines grid, font sizes, and image treatment. Design wise, my goal was to have the article be as realistic as possible and fit with the Men’s Health aesthetic.
Research
01
In this article done by members at ESPN, a recent study provided insight on the high prevalence of physical and mental health issues in former NFL players from the 1988 season. While CTE can only be diagnosed postpartum, this study helped me to understand the struggle of players that may be significant signs of the brain disease. Most of this information helped me to supply statistics used in my article to help convince players and fans the benefits of wearing guardian caps
02
03
In this study of deceased NFL, NBA, and MLB players since 1920, findings have proven that players participating in the National Football League have an alarmingly higher risk of suicide than players in other sports. Researchers have stated that factors such as repeated injury and heavy impact activities have contributed to lower quality of life at a much faster rate. With many former players that have committed, they’ve seen that CTE was prominent and are working to catch CTE more effectively.
While searching for ways that the NFL has made improvements on players helmets, I was introduced to a new perspective of why guardian caps aren’t as regularly worn as they should be. In this article, it discusses how injuries and big hits are simply apart of the game, and thats part of why fans love watching the sport so much. I used this perspective to acklowedge and reach out to a broader audience in hopes of creating awareness of importance of player health.
Key Design Aspects
For the design language, I wanted to reflect the clean, modern, and sporty aesthetics of Men’s Magazine as well as the high energy of the NFL. With this I used Bold san serif headings paired with a Times body that matched the rest of the magazine. As far as image treatment, I decided to use image masks and cutout styled design to emphasize the players activity as if they were coming out of the page.
Process
During this project, I wanted to challenge myself with image treatment so that I could create engaging graphics that would grab readers attention immediately. For my first spread I focused on showing the impacts and severeness of CTE. In order to achieve this, I heavily dramatized the players and the physically demanding sport. Shown below is steps that I took to achieve this goal with photoshop.
Image Layering
For this graphic, I really wanted to focus on the physicality and injury risk revolving around the NFL. With this in mind, I decided to scale the players up
Shadows X Detail
To make it as realistic as possible, I added shadows to the players, motion blur, and flying dirt debris to emphasize the heavy contact
Finishing Touches
Lastly, I added more relative lighting, highlights and background blur to bring the focus on to the two players.
Early Concepts
Outcome
For the final project, I included three spreads. Each one is designed with the audience in mind in order to outline the topic, spread awareness of the issue, and provide a drive for positive change within the NFL. One of my main goals was to implement the imagery within the pages that reflected the high energy of the sport. I wanted the turn of each page to be a different experience yet feel apart of the same magazine.
Insights
As my first editorial project, I was consistently challenged with many aspects of the design. Having to balance details such as copywriting, storytelling image treatment, and existing brand guidelines, helped me to understand all of the features within magazines. One of the most challenging parts of this project was using imagery to guide readers throughout the article. Having to align the grid to place images that correlated with the text while making sure the imagery throughout the article was consistent was a great opportunity at learning editorial design first hand.