Case study · NTR
NTR
Magazine ads and event announcements for the National Team Roping Tour, promoting Big Bucks, Gold Rush Days and the National Finals II in Wickenburg, Arizona.
01 — Context
Event magazine ad design for team roping
The National Team Roping Tour (NTR), produced by Yost Events, runs team roping competitions at Rancho Rio Arena in Wickenburg, Arizona, with qualifiers that lead to the NTR National Finals. Heading into the new season, NTR wanted to promote several of its events in the magazines its ropers read.
We were asked for event magazine ad design that would stand out on a crowded page while carrying a lot of detail. Ropers need more than a date and a venue: they want formats, entry fees, caps, payouts and qualifying information before they decide to haul to an event. Each ad had to look like an event worth attending and work as a reference sheet.
02 — Two events, two personalities
A distinct look for each event
Rather than one template with the names swapped, we gave each event its own personality, linked by the red, white and blue NTR shield.
Big Bucks is a single-day roping, so the ad is built around one big moment. A hand-lettered blue "BigBucks" script sits on a white burst shape with sketched rays, against a cool, frosted blue background that suits a January date. The date, venue and three roping divisions follow in a clean stack of small caps, and a blue banner calls out the Big Bucks Roping and its payout to the high-point roper. Formats and general information are tucked into a two-column panel at the bottom.
Gold Rush Days runs over eleven days, so its challenge was the schedule. We set "Gold Rush Days" in chunky gold western lettering on a black ribbon over a worn kraft-paper texture, then organized every day's ropings into three columns, with the Gold Rush ropings highlighted in gold so they can be spotted at a glance. A boxed panel explains the roping formats. Strong visual hierarchy is what keeps a page this dense readable.
03 — National Finals II
Announcing the 2016 Finals
NTR also needed to announce the 2016 National Finals II to its community. Each piece is anchored by the National Finals II title in a tall, condensed red and blue face, with the NTR shield between the digits of 2016 and a National Team Roping Tour rule beneath, set on a clean white background so the details below stay easy to read.
The first announcement introduces the National 12 program in a letter signed by Ty Yost, ending with a Discover More button. The second, "Time to Enter Is Now," lays out three numbered ways to enter — online, by mail and by email — then switches to a deep blue panel listing the remaining 2016 qualifiers for the National Nine and National Eight side by side.
Both pieces share a footer with the NTR and Rancho Rio logos, phone number and website, carrying the graphic design through from print to screen.
04 — The result
Ads that do the explaining
NTR came away with event ads ready for magazine placement and a set of digital announcements for the Finals, all recognizably NTR while letting each event feel like its own occasion. Every piece puts the essentials — what, when, where and how much — where a roper expects to find them.
We have designed for the western performance world often; see our ads for Hotti In The House and PleasureHorse.com.
What we delivered
Print and digital promotion for the National Team Roping Tour.
