Inside the Huddle: Dwyane Wade

Inside the Huddle brings you behind the curtain to see what went into the supporting illustrations from The Baseline Review. Editor and Creative Director JP Boneyard shares his insights into the process. Next up is Dwyane Wade from Katie Heindl's story A Conduit Between Worlds, illustrated by Brian Butler.

The Concept
Flash, as you may know, is a nickname that Shaq gave to Wade during their time together on the Miami Heat. The comic book character Flash was based on the Greek deity Hermes. A lot of our book draws connections between mythology and the on court heroics of our subjects. It felt like a natural fit to depict Wade as Hermes. Katie Heindl did great work exploring the ways that Wade mirrors the deity. Hermes—and Wade—were both conduits and speed demons. Brian Butler nailed the dynamic pose of this illustration. He also did wonderful work with minimalist color palette. It feels very true to some of his mural work you'll see around Miami. Brian had a great idea of mixing the classic Greek architecture with Miami palm trees. It’s a subtle detail but it feels so nice!

Supporting Illustration From our Story A Conduit Between Worlds

The Cover
Hermes was guide to the underworld. He helped souls cross between the realm of the living and the afterlife. In some ways Wade would do the same on the court. He’d take ankles while carving his way downhill to the hoop. He’d snatch the ball on defense and sprint his way to an easy layup. The implication in those moments is that Wade took his opponents life and lead them through the underworld with his dynamic play. That duality of the light and dark lead us to the vibrant full page illustration and the more dramatic, darker cover. It feels like Wade could be the fifth Beatle on the cover of Meet the Beatles! That's our tip-of-the cap to the LeBron, Wade, and Bosh era Heatles.

Cover From our Story A Conduit Between Worlds 

Meet the Beatles! Album Cover (Image via Sony Music Publishing)

Color Palette
Brian went right for the Vice Nights color variant and we love it! This feels very Miami and those are still some of our favorite alternate jerseys at The Baseline Review. For the proper book release we have the classic black and maroon jersey on Wade. The Vice Nights colorway is special for the screenprinted version of the story.

Color Separations from the Five Color Screenprint of Wade as Hermes

Miami Vice Nights Alternate Jersey. (Image via Miami Heat)

TL;DR
We took inspiration from the Greek deity Hermes to represent Wade. Flash is 100% based on Hermes. The story cover is a bit of an homage to the Meet the Beatles! album cover. You know, because Heatles. We love Brian and his work on these supporting illustrations brings us total joy!

Huddle Up
This has been another installment of Inside the Huddle with Editor and Creative Director JP Boneyard. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the player, the supporting illustrations, and the creative energy that went into this work. We appreciate you!