Down a few hands, how Gamecocks creative department is adjusting during pandemic
On Saturday morning, ahead of South Carolina’s football game against Vanderbilt, Gamecocks head of new and creative media Justin King took to Twitter to explain an absence.
One of the highest-profile public outputs of his department has been the series of “Battle Armor” uniform reveal videos that drop a few days before each game. They show off the new look, often show off a little bit of Columbia and sometimes contain a deeper message.
But one for the Vanderbilt game hadn’t been posted, and after a set of photos of the day’s gear went up, King explained.
“Appreciate the enthusiasm around the Battle Armor video! Team is down multiple members + a busy week - had to make a tough choice,” King wrote. “Until we are through the (completely justified) hiring freeze, I can’t promise there will be one every week, but I can promise I’ll do my best.”
A look through the replies to the tweet, and they were generally positive, expressing appreciation for the work. It showed how this newfound tradition (Year 4 of these videos) has burrowed its way into the weekly routine of Gamecocks fans.
There’s a little anticipation, usually with a short teaser saying a full video is set to arrive soon.
“It’s humbling,” King told The State. “A lot of times you don’t you don’t see that kind of stuff. You don’t see people talking about the fact that they look forward to it.
“That specific series has been fun as we’ve kind of transformed it from what it first was when it first came out, about literally just here’s a couple of shots of a guy in a uniform into being like stories about around the program.”
Those stories have invoked Halloween themes, winning boarder battles, a trip to the state fair and to start this year reminding fans of what it meant to have football at all after the pandemic that disrupted so much more than just the sport.
His department regularly sends people on to bigger jobs, and that’s been true of late. In recent months, longtime staffer Alex Grant was hired as football creative director at Maryland. Michaiah “Mac” Smith had been hired from Alabama, but he got a job with Creative Arts Agency.
King made sure to point out his support from the administration has been everything he’d want, and this is simply a time when belts are tightening all over. But they have had fewer hands. Working with students has been a little different because of vigilance about who comes into the building (South Carolina tests about 350 people for COVID three days a week, and bringing more people into the building adds an extra risk).
That’s required patience from coaches and teams across athletics. The new and creative media department services a wide range of programs, from equestrian to football, with a wide range of content. Some is public, but much is not, often going straight to recruits. There are, in a sense, different expectations than a few years back when this department started its journey toward what it is now.
And in the end, it’s an institution like most others, dealing with new circumstances on the fly, making do with what it has for the time being. Down the road, when things stabilize, King will almost assuredly be able to add a bit more talent to his room.
He explained that losing folks, in some ways, has more impact on the conceptualization process than it does on the assembly of content.
“It’s been an interesting challenge for sure,” King said. “I would say that it’s as big of a loss when that happens, the real loss doesn’t … yes, it comes from the work and from being able to assign and delegate and from the creative mind, but it really comes from the personality inside the room. Because that’s where the best creative things come from. It comes from the relationships and things like that.”
Next USC football game
Who: Auburn at South Carolina
When: Noon Saturday, Oct. 17
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium
TV: ESPN
