Drew-ing It Up: Where Hockey and Design Meet

When I first met Kraken colleague Drew Hamlet’s son, Nolan, we were in the franchise’s first offices on West Harrison Street on a weekend afternoon long before the Kraken played an NHL game. Two things stood out immediately: One, Nolan is much chattier than his father and, two, it’s like father like son when the measure is enthusiasm for life.

Hamlet might appear the quiet type, and he self-identifies as an introvert, but his mind and eye for design in all things, most especially here in the PNW, is a conversation worth having. As the Kraken’s art director, Hamlet is in a career sweet spot. He earned a degree in design at Seattle’s esteemed Cornish College of the Arts to kickstart his professional pursuits, but only after he concluded (know the feeling) becoming a pro hockey player wasn’t going to be an option. Hockey was his first passion, and art became a close second.

“It was always going to be a hockey player or an artist,” said Hamlet during a thoroughly enjoyable conversation earlier this week. “I started skating in kindergarten when I attended a birthday party at our local rink in Stockton [CA]. I went to public skates on the weekends. One time, I saw the mighty mites [ages 7 and 8] playing afterward. I figured I was their age and could skate as well as them. I did great in the house league.”

As it turned out, Hamlet was a fast learner. He was soon enough playing travel team hockey and meeting two friends, Danny Sperry and Ryan Calhoun. The trio stayed close pals and have all stood up in each other’s weddings. Sperry coaches the local high school team in Stockton. Sperry and Hamlet worked together at the rink as teens, with Hamlet starting out at the skate rental counter but moving up to part-time Zamboni driver by age 16. The Kraken organization is more than 200-strong, but the guess here is very few can wheel around in a Zam.

“Hockey was different and fun,” said Hamlet, who oversees a talented staff of graphics artists and motion graphics specialists. “I fell in love with the sport right away.”

Double-Shifting as Young Artist

Hamlet’s maternal grandmother, nicknamed “Mema” by the grandkids, was a supporter of hockey, yet realized “really young” Drew was equally engaged and enthused about art. She signed him up for a Friday night art class, and the rest is history in the ongoing making with the Kraken. The guess here is not too many teammates on that Stockton travel team were enrolled in art class to paint and sculpt or later start designing CD covers, T-shirts, and websites for local bands as a high schooler and, later as a design professional, created graphics for Death Cab for Cutie albums.

With his hockey dream, well, deferred, Hamlet made the impressively mature decision to not only study design but to move out of his California comfort zone. This trait to embrace the new and unknown is threaded through his success as a designer since graduating from Cornish in 2010.

“I think part of moving up here was I felt like I wanted to move away to experience something different, especially since Seattle was less expensive at the time,” said Hamlet. “I felt like I would be a little bit freer to not worry about money and get to explore more.”

An Upward Career Arc

Hamlet was soon hired by a bustling local ad agency on the strength of his “buttoned up” projects he created during his studies at Cornish. That will surprise no one who works alongside Hamlet, listens to his ideas for brand initiatives, or admires his own artistic entries that Kraken fans see at Climate Pledge Arena, Kraken Community Iceplex, across digital channels, and more. Before landing with Seattle’s NHL franchise in early career days, Hamlet spent time at Amazon, worked as an instructor at Seattle Central College, and contracted with a number of clients as a freelance designer.

One of his favorite gigs was working with a local optometrist who wanted to remake his business into a neighborhood shop called Eye Eye, which now has locations in Capitol Hill and Leschi. The process of starting from scratch was specific and highly relevant training for joining the Kraken.

“The optometrist wanted to focus on kind of quirkier glasses and just provide a more personable experience,” said Hamlet. “We started from nothing, and got involved in the naming and branding at the same time they were building the space. I got to work with the architects there, too. The brand was cohesive between what the architects were doing and what we were doing. I loved that.”

Drive Time and Drop the Puck

Hamlet was in his car when he first heard about a design opening with the Kraken. A friend from that first ad agency reached out to say, Aaron Wiggan, Kraken vice president for brand, was searching for designers. The friend had worked with Wiggan at REI.

“I was pulling up my resume on my Dropbox and sending my friend links,” said Hamlet, a smile emerging. “He said, “I’ll just give him your email.' I said, “That’s fine,” but I was freaking out.

As he went through the hiring process, his penchant for asking focused questions paid off. Not only did Hamlet get the role, but he also uncovered what he would be doing once he started the position.

“Aside from never thinking I'd get to work for an NHL team, the idea of getting to work on one eight months before we even had players, I knew how once-in-a-lifetime that was ... the biggest thing for me was I had no idea of what it would entail. I was trying to figure out all the touch points that I would be working on.”

(In the) Deep Thinking About Intersection Between Design and Art

When working with members of the design group, Hamlet seeks open and candid dialogue about proposed looks. He wants colleagues to feel vulnerable in the most powerful and emotional mindset, leading to everyone’s best work.

“As a designer, I've always liked having a prompt, whereas I think art is fully self-driven,” said Hamlet. “I've always liked to have a problem to solve. And, especially here, getting to do things you see out in the world, forming a community, and making people happy.”

For his part, Wiggan said the Kraken design group leans into Hamlet’s feedback and respects his knowledge of hockey and dedication to design and art.

“Drew is an incredible designer in that he can take a narrative or a story and turn it into a visual that makes you feel something. This isn’t just surface-level. It’s about all the extra work that goes into it, and he’s willing to do it. Whether that is spending time scanning books at the Nordic museum or opening old hockey cards to see and feel what the textures are like."

Family Time, Familiar Names

Let’s get back to Nolan, 11, who now enjoys playing hockey and having teammates at Kraken Community Iceplex. During COVID-19, if Dad was home on a Zoom call, Nolan would exclaim, “Hi, good to see you again!” if he spotted a certain reporter on his dad’s computer screen. That bubbly outlook hasn’t wavered. Younger brother Marleau, 7, is an extrovert himself. Interestingly, he squarely identifies with the artist identity. Hamlet’s wife, Kim, runs an art studio, and Marleau sometimes hangs out there while Mom is teaching.

Hamlet’s friends and colleagues know his early hockey days were power-boosted by attending San Jose Sharks games with his family. Stockton is a 90-minute drive each way to and from San Jose. Seeing games in person is the most sure-fire route to deep affection for hockey – something Hamlet has pondered and contextualized in his current role. Not to bury part of the lead, but young Drew had a couple of favorite players who stoked his hockey at a time of heyday years for the San Jose organization. Want to guess? Correct, former captain Owen Nolan and the beloved Patrick Marleau, who played 19 seasons for the Sharks. Now that’s a hockey dad with a creative touch.