Designing a hockey jersey representing his Hispanic heritage wasn’t the biggest challenge facing local artist Victor Melendez after the Kraken came calling.

Melendez, 45, born in Mexico City but living in Seattle since the late 1990s, is an art director, graphic designer, and illustrator with plenty of corporate branding experience, as well as an avid sports fan with ample familiarity with team jerseys and logos. But creating a jersey design for Hispanic Heritage Night, pres. by Modelo, at this Saturday’s Kraken game against Calgary at Climate Pledge Arena required broadening his subject matter well beyond usual.

“I wanted to represent not only my Mexican heritage but the Hispanic population and Latin American population in general,” Melendez said. “I didn’t want to be specific to, in my own case, my Mexican culture.”

His solution was a design playing off the commonalities found in myriad older gods and mythical creatures various Latin American nations have worshipped and revered for centuries.

“I was finding out that a lot of early cultures worship some of the same gods – they just have different names,” Melendez said. “So, I started looking at old patterns, colors, and symbols you’ll find throughout Latin America. And not just Mexican culture. But like, Mayan, Aztec, Inca. Some of those early, indigenous graphics.”

That approach meshed well, with Hispanic Heritage Night being the first of nine season-long Kraken Common Thread events being held during Kraken home games. The Common Thread is a rebranded, expanded version of last season’s Jersey Nights and as the name implies, stems from a belief Kraken fans are commonly united in supporting their team regardless of diverse backgrounds and unique experiences.

“The Common Thread is our organization’s commitment to making the game of hockey more inclusive,” said Kyle Boyd, the Kraken’s senior director of fan development. “The platform highlights how we are all connected and united by our love of the game. The concept stems from the idea that our individual threads may be different and distinct, but when they come together, they showcase how we are all woven together by our passion and devotion for our team.”

This is the first season Hispanic heritage will be included and celebrated as part of the Kraken’s themed nights. The Kraken Common Thread will also celebrate Indigenous Peoples, Pride, Lunar New Year, Black Hockey History, Women in Hockey, the Military, Hockey Fights Cancer, and a Green Night.

“Every year, we’re kind of re-evaluating this program,” Kraken marketing specialist Samantha Jabara said of the themed Common Thread games, which previously went by Jersey Nights and Hockey Is For Everyone names. “And now we’re entering the Common Thread phase and so we’re evaluating on an annual basis.

“And we’ve seen such a presence in the Pacific Northwest of Hispanic heritage that we just thought it was natural to add it,” Jabara added. “It was probably something we should have done in years past, but at the same time, we’re always looking to grow.

“In Year 1, we didn’t have Lunar New Year and so we added it in Year 2. And so, it feels like it’s a more appropriate way to bring recognition and celebration to a (Hispanic) community that is so prevalent here.”

Even artist Melendez admits it was only in the past decade or so he began to truly appreciate the extensive presence of Hispanic culture in the Pacific Northwest. He thought about it a few weeks back while attending a “packed” Climate Pledge concert by the Mexican band Grupo Firme the same night another such act, Los Angeles Azules was performing in front of thousands more fans at WAMU Theater.

“Thinking about those two places just full of mostly Mexicans because of the Mexican acts, you realize the impact that this community has here,” he said. “And there’s a ton of people with that Hispanic heritage, not only Mexican. There’s a big Salvadoran community and people from elsewhere in Central and South America as well.

“I mean, we’re everywhere.”

His Hispanic Heritage Night design borrows from the Quetzalcoatl, or “Feathered Serpent,” God of Life, Light, and Wisdom, and is also related to arts, crafts, knowledge, and learning. The design contains patterns and colors inspired by ancient patterns found in architecture, textiles, and art throughout Latin America.

“I didn’t try to copy it; I was just inspired by it,” he said. Paying homage to it, if you will.”

Kraken players will wear the Melendez-designed jerseys during their walk-in to the locker room, then sign them for auction by the team’s One Roof Foundation with proceeds benefitting the GreenLatinos group – whose Latinx leaders are dedicated to demanding equity and combatting racism.

T-shirts with the design will be available for purchase at the Kraken Team Store.

For Melendez, though, this goes far beyond the pride of seeing his design on a pro sports team’s jerseys.

“Being able to represent a part of my culture to a broader community is really big,” he said. “I mean, there aren’t that many Hispanics that are hockey fans in general, right? So, being able to represent my culture to a broader audience here is something very important for me. And it works both ways since I feel there are not that many Hispanics that are into hockey. This might be a good way to expose hockey to them as well. I feel it’s a good opportunity for engagement in both worlds.”