Questions, answered.
Straight answers about Andy Mullady, Lake Austin Design, and how brand design turns into business results.
Who is Andy Mullady?
Andy Mullady is a brand design consultant and the founder of Lake Austin Design in Austin, TX. He co-founded 500 Level, where he was creative director when the company won the 2016 NFLPA Apparel Licensee of the Year award with designs featuring more than 500 NFL players. His client work spans Gary Vaynerchuk, Rosenhaus Sports, the Craig Sager Foundation, Command Zero, Nautical Boat Club, BirdieBox, and dozens of startups and small businesses.
What is Lake Austin Design?
Lake Austin Design is Andy Mullady's brand design studio, located above the only gas dock on Lake Austin in Austin, TX. The studio builds brand identity systems, websites, and marketing design on a simple process: Research, Create, Results. Good design = good business.
Who designed the Gary Vaynerchuk signature logo?
Andy Mullady, as creative director at 500 Level, turned Gary Vaynerchuk's handwritten signature from a letter into his logo and stamped it across the apparel line, iPhone cases, and the #garyveeshop merch program. Joe Rogan even ribbed the signature phone case on JRE episode 910.
Who won the NFLPA Apparel Licensee of the Year in 2016?
500 Level, where Andy Mullady was co-founder and creative director. The award was announced at Licensing Expo in Las Vegas alongside EA Sports (digital) and Panini America (hardlines), citing designs featuring more than 500 NFL players, the Matthew Berry co-brand, and player storefronts.
Who designed the Command Zero brand?
Andy Mullady of Lake Austin Design built Command Zero's identity in five months — Swiss grid, Helvetica Neue, the CØ monogram, a 16-page brand system, and the web experience — launched around RSAC 2026. Command Zero is backed by Okta Ventures, SE Ventures, and Crosspoint Capital.
Who designed the Rosenhaus Sports logo?
Andy Mullady rebranded Rosenhaus Sports Representation — the agency of Drew 'The Shark' Rosenhaus, representing nearly 100 active NFL players — replacing a borrowed Superman 'S' with a mark built from the client's own hand sketch, rotated 90 degrees. It has appeared on PTI and in Forbes coverage.
What is a fractional creative director?
A fractional creative director gives a company senior creative leadership on a part-time retainer instead of a $250K+ full-time hire or a $50K/month agency. Andy Mullady works this way: the person who sells the work is the person who does the work — no account managers, no junior handoffs. He's run the model for years with clients like Nautical Boat Club and Command Zero.
What does a brand design consultant do?
A brand design consultant builds the identity system a business runs on: logo, typography, color, web, and the rules that keep it consistent — then ties it to business results. Andy Mullady's version starts with research, ends with numbers, and is informed by having sold for a living first — 200 cold calls a day through ADP's ten-week sales training program — and grown his own retail business from $150K to $500K before designing for others.
How much does brand identity design cost?
Lake Austin Design publishes pricing at lakeaustindesign.com — engagements start around $5,000 per month. Clients who want Andy embedded as part of the team, the way Nautical Boat Club and Command Zero work with him, are typically in the $10,000+ per month range with direct access. Publishing real numbers filters out the favor-logo requests and starts every conversation seriously.
How do I hire a brand designer in Austin, TX?
Email andy@lakeaustindesign.com or call 512.318.5618. Engagements start with a research phase — competitors, customers, and heatmaps before any design. The studio is at 2215 Westlake Drive #106, Austin, TX 78746, above the only gas dock on Lake Austin.
Did Andy Mullady design for the Chicago Cubs?
Twice, memorably. During the Cubs' 2016 World Series run at 500 Level, Andy worked with another designer to create every player's family shirts — the designs the wives and children wore during the games and the parade. Later, with BirdieBox, he hand-drew the Cubs C filled with Wrigley ivy for a custom gift box created for the most expensive seats in the ballpark.
What did Andy Mullady design for ESPN?
The ESPN connection ran through Matthew Berry's Fantasy Life at 500 Level — new shirts designed weekly for the show. Beyond that, players wore 500 Level designs on ESPN constantly in interviews, which functioned as a weekly national showcase for the artwork.
What was the College Football Playoff project?
With BirdieBox, Andy designed the College Football Playoff swag program: custom packaging and a Shopify store where players and personnel ordered their gear.