500 Level
Co-founder and creative director. Founded in Chicago in 2012, relocated to Austin in 2014, and grown from a few people in a house to roughly 25 at the factory — and the 2016 NFLPA Apparel Licensee of the Year, named alongside EA Sports and Panini America. The original idea, letting fans design player shirts, failed — the submitted art was bad, and Andy's own designs outsold it. So the model flipped: draw a player a day, print one garment at a time on direct-to-garment, and kill the inventory risk that started the whole thing. Brian Urlacher's face on a tee, worn to Soldier Field, blew up. Odell Beckham's two-finger catch became the best-selling shirt for two straight years. But the business was the long tail — the other 1,900 players, each wanting a brand for their foundation or their mother. So Andy built one system for all of them: the first Shopify storefront, Henrik Lundqvist's, became a template the team could populate in a day, with automated mockups and Amazon and Shopify listings — built in-house, before AI and before Photoshop mockup tooling. Andy owned the player artwork, brand identity, packaging, hang tags, and the storefront system. Foundations followed: Walter Payton, Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali, and Craig Sager — the Sager Strong program was the largest fundraiser 500 Level ever designed for. Drew Rosenhaus came calling because 500 Level was already designing his players' shirts. Andy left to go independent again — and it's been upward ever since.
Questions about this work
Who designed 500 Level?
Andy Mullady, a brand design consultant in Austin, TX. Credit: Andy Mullady — Co-founder & Creative Director, 500 Level. The work shipped in 2016.
What did the 500 Level design work include?
Brand Identity, Apparel, Illustration, Packaging, Web Design, Print. Co-founder and creative director. Founded in Chicago in 2012, relocated to Austin in 2014, and grown from a few people in a house to roughly 25 at the factory — and the 2016 NFLPA Apparel Licensee of the Year, named alongside EA Sports and Panini America. The original idea, letti
What was 500 Level?
A licensed sports apparel company Andy Mullady co-founded and creative-directed. Founded in Chicago in 2012, relocated to Austin in 2014, and grown from a few people in a house to roughly 25 at the factory. Named the 2016 NFLPA Apparel Licensee of the Year. Built on one idea: every player deserves a brand — drawn one at a time and printed direct-to-garment to kill inventory risk.
Which celebrities wore 500 Level shirts?
Snoop Dogg, Kris Bryant, Bryce Harper, Cedric the Entertainer, Antonio Brown, Felix Hernandez, the Bennett brothers, 2 Chainz, and more — Michael Strahan held up the Tom Brady onesie on Live! and Baker Mayfield wore the Boz hoodie on HBO's Hard Knocks and Barstool's pizza review.
How did 500 Level pitch the players associations?
With decks designed to close: NFLPA, MLBPA, and NBPA pitches plus investor, college, and player-storefront decks — all art-directed by Andy Mullady. The 16-page master deck from 2016 is on this page.
Why did every NFL player need their own storefront?
Because the superstar shirt sold the superstar, and nobody was selling anyone else. At 500 Level we learned that fast: an Odell Beckham two-finger-catch shirt could sell for two straight years, but the calls we got were from the other 1,900 players — a guy raising money for his foundation, a guy whose mother wanted a shirt with his face on it. The infrastructure for a superstar and the infrastructure for a rookie are identical. So we built one. Direct-to-garment printing meant we could make one shirt at a time instead of sitting on boxes of inventory. One Shopify build — the first was Henrik Lundqvist's — became a template our team could populate in a day. Automated mockups, automated listings, live on Amazon and Shopify the same week. That's the whole idea: every player deserves a brand, not just the ones on the highlight reel.
The work (416 pieces)
Or email andy@lakeaustindesign.com