Reinventing the Dodger Dog (through illustration)

Ryan Hungerford

Ryan Hungerford has been a baseball fan for as long as he can remember. He started in Little League at age 4 and has loved the game ever since. He grew up in the 80s, and though most of his family consisted of die-hard Cubs fans (excluding a singular White Sox supporter uncle), he was an A’s fan, “I love Rickey Henderson, and then of course the Bash Brothers.”

Hungerford works as a freelance artist, and in his free time, he combines his art and design skills with his love of baseball. He originally started out as an illustrator, working for toy companies and game companies, but later shifted into graphic design. I came across his work at WonderCon in Anaheim this year, where he was selling different Dodgers prints.

Mixing sports and design helped Hungerford further his career. In 2008, he was visiting Los Angeles with his wife and saw that the grocery store was selling packs of Dodger Dogs. “I thought that was so cool, I don’t know why. Later that day after we left, I just kept thinking about it. I don’t think there’s anything as big as the Dodger Dog in baseball and maybe even all sports, as far as food items.”

Hungerford then combined his love for mid-century design and sports mascots with the Dodger Dog. “I did some research to see if anything like that had been done before. The Dodgers did actually do a Dodger Dog art piece just for promo, but he’s not around, and he’s kind of tall and lanky.” Hungerford wanted his Dodger Dog to be more cute and “chubby.” He made some prints and showed up to a convention. “People just went crazy for him, and they sold so fast. I had people coming back and saying, ‘Hey do you have any more of those, I saw some guy carrying it around.’ I think I made like 20 of them and sold them within half an hour.”

Since then, Hungerford has made prints, pins, and even scarves, all featuring his take on the Dodger Dog. He also designs other baseball-related graphics throughout the year, including one celebrating Jackie Robinson Day, which he shares on Instagram at Ryetoons.