Ace Of Spades Illustration

I was recently connected with Ace of Spades, a live music venue in Sacramento, California, to explore the possibility of creating some custom merchandise designs. They provided a creative brief outlining their desired aesthetic, along with examples of existing merchandise currently being sold.

The venue expressed interest in a design that reflects their rock-and-roll heritage while also incorporating the bear from the California state flag. After doing some research and brainstorming, an idea emerged to reinterpret the iconic Snaggletooth design from Motörhead. Instead of the original skull, we envisioned replacing it with a bear’s head—paying homage to the California bear—while retaining the distinctive tusks from the original Motörhead emblem. This concept blends the venue's roots in rock culture with a strong, localized visual identity.

The initial concept was composited in Photoshop and then illustrated in Procreate.