Having previously collaborated with legendary Premier League teams such as Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal, the opportunity to be the first in his profession to work with the NFL felt surreal. He remembers years ago receiving an Instagram message from the NFL that expressed the league's interest in his work, and slowly, a partnership was formed.
"It's been on my mind to potentially branch out because it's just something that I felt was authentic to me," Jeffery said. "I'm interested in other sports and now being part of the OOF Gallery, which is a part of Tottenham Stadium, which is shared with the NFL, there's these connection points. When the Bears joined, it was like, 'wow, this is a bit of a dream.' We're all really, really excited."
While growing up in the United Kingdom, Jeffery knew the creative space was for him, in part due to his lack of interest in subjects like math or finance. He loved drawing and painting, specifically sports logos. While he doesn't consider himself a knowledgeable American football fan, he was always intrigued by the NFL, having played Madden with his brother as kids and been fascinated by the team logos.
As Jeffery began working with the Bears on the exhibit and designs, he dove into the charter franchise's history, specifically that of the 1985 Bears — the Super Bowl XX-winning team that captured the hearts of not only Chicago, but the world.
"I love learning about these stories and talking to people and understanding little bits of the Bears history," Jeffery said. "Most of it comes back to how things look, like, 'why is 'GSH' on the sleeve? Why is this logo different from this year and why did those stripes change? Why was the collar like this or in that specific game?'
"It's this whole new world and that's what I find really, really interesting. It's about a path of learning. I have an affinity with the certain logos, which I find exciting to use, and so I knew of the Bears logo. I knew, obviously, of the NFL logo. So to play with them and to even just to talk to people from those institutions is flattering and really, really exciting for me."
Each time Jeffery walked into the studio during this project, he and his coworkers would exchange new findings about the '85 Bears. They watched the Super Bowl Shuffle, read books chronicling the season and drowned in various shades of navy and orange.