Drafted by Design: Wisconsin Wood Artist creates all 32 logos for NFL Draft

BUTLER, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Most people watch the NFL Draft, but Milwaukee-based eco-sustainable wood artist Ike Wynter is now part of it.

Commissioned by the league itself, Wynter created hand-crafted versions of all 32 NFL team logos—without a drop of paint. Just reclaimed wood and a whole lot of heart.

CBS 58's Alex Corradetti did a feature story with Ike in November of 2024 and decided to reach out about this fantastic project as a follow up.

"The NFL reached out to me on email which was kind of a wild thing to come across on a Monday morning," said Wynter.

"They hit me up and said we have a project in mind," said Wynter.

We also spoke with Justin Wright, Art Director for the NFL's Brand Experience Team, who helped guide the visual direction of this year’s Draft.

"The theme for this year is 'Built by Community' and it really taps into the unique relationship that Wisconsinites have with the Green Bay Packers," said Wright.

"When we saw Ike, his work, we found him on social media. He had such a unique aesthetic and a unique medium and with the idea that he is sourcing from the local community, it made for a perfect story for our overarching thematic for the NFL Draft," explained Wright.

Wynter's viral creations for the Bucks, Brewers and Blackhawks have gained national attention but this is his biggest project yet. 

"I've worked with some notable people and organizations but getting hit up by the NFL for a project of this size... I've never done more than one piece for anybody," said Wynter.

"The challenge of the project was to recreate all 32 NFL teams in my style of art. So, all reclaimed wood, no painting, no staining. Can we bring all 32 to life from wood from the side of the road? And in this large format as you can see. They're all like 3ft by 3 ft," said Wynter.

"It was three weeks of trying to find all the wood and gather a ton of furniture. From there, it was communicating with the NFL's creative team and saying hey this is what we have collected, and we developed the tones from there. You have 32 teams, each of them has like 3-5 colors and you have a big pile of furniture. You must make that formula work. It's like do we use these two entertainment centers on these pieces? And this component here... it’s just like very interesting and super fun process with the NFL's creative team to reimagine something that you know so well, but you have to rethink entirely," said Wynter.

CBS 58's Alex Corradetti asked Wynter if he had any favorite logos. 

"The Jaguars piece was really fun, the Buccaneers piece, the Raiders—the Raiders is most unique to me. It's the only logo that is black and white in nature, so by throwing on my tones and art I feel like it's actually enhanced the logo," said Wynter.

"There is a lot of nuances to these. All the spots on the jaguar for example and the intricacies of the Baltimore Raven... the fact that he is able to achieve that with just shading from all the wood he sourced is truly phenomenal," said Wright.

Even with those amazing pieces, there was one logo that meant just a little more to Ike and his family.

"The Buffalo Bills piece was the most special to me. My grandpa played for the Bills and was drafted to them. So aside from doing the Packers and the hometown team, the Bills was the most meaningful for me to do," said Wynter.

Wynter's grandfather was Raymond Kuffel. 

"We don’t know much about him. He unfortunately passed away so soon. I wish I knew his voice, character and charisma to have that thought in my head," said Wynter.

"I think he would be proud, but he accomplished so much in his life in such a short amount of time that I feel like he's like yeah this is what you should be doing keep going," said Wynter.

"He was a very successful man as far as what he pursued in life. I think that I get some of that from him without even knowing him. I'm just always figuring out what the next thing is and pursuing life everyday and I think he would be proud that I am doing something," said Wynter.

"He was drafted originally in 1944 and then he was redrafted in 1947 and that's when he started playing. He played 47-49. He played for the Chicago Rockets and then another Chicago team and then the Buffalo Bills," said Wynter.

"Raymond Kuffel. He's in the Marquette Hall of Fame for football and basketball. He went to Marquette for three years and went to Notre Dame for one year and was the captain of the team and won the national title," said Wynter.

"He played in the NFL and he got hurt in the NFL and then had a dental practice in Butler about three blocks away," said Wynter.

"Again, he passed away when my mom was 16 so my dad never met him, us kids never met him. He's my only grandparent I never got to meet and we don’t know too much about him because he passed away so young but it's been super cool to bring his story to light and feel connected to him. I'm his grandson doing something related to him 81 years later," said Wynter.

"I don't think the NFL was expecting that either. I flew to NYC to the NFL headquarters to have a meeting with them which was wild. I said hey by the way my grandpa played in the NFL and they're like hey this is wild," said Wynter.

"It's been super cool. Outside of our family his name never gets brought up. But now, a ton of people have been sending me memorabilia stuff they found online about him, information we have never known before and it's been a really cool part of this process," said Wynter.

We asked Ike how he feels looking down at all of his work in his Butler studio.

"It makes me feel nervous and excited about the draft. Thankfully, the hard part is done. The work is done. I don’t have to present anything at the draft it'll be hung and speak for itself," said Wynter.

"That's a good base layer. I am proud of them and excited for them. They look cool here and it's cool that something out of my shop will be going to such a huge platform," said Wynter.

Wynter then explained to us where the pieces would be placed at the NFL Draft in Green Bay. 

"They'll be lining the player walkway. So, when a player gets drafted, they hear their name, they put on the cap, and they walk through the hallway to the stage. They will be in the hallway by division lining the player's final walk or whatever you want to say," said Wynter.

"It really felt like the perfect opportunity for this vision to come to life. That they are coming down this hallway and seeing this NFL community that they’ve just been welcomed into—right before they enter the draft stage," said Wright.

"The access for the public to see it—you have to be one of those 90ish people to see it in person," said Wynter.

Wynter then took the time to further explain the process of making the logos. 

"We had to go component by component. We would find one entertainment center, then find the color on it and map out the Ravens' beak on it and the Eagles' background and the Patriots' background. So, you kind of make those three components out of one entertainment center. All three of those pieces have different colors. Sometimes I would have a piece of wood for the Raiders piece. I cut it in the third day and then I didn’t find the actual tone for the word 'Raiders' until 4 weeks later," said Wynter.

"You can imagine hundreds of pieces of wood laying around," said Wynter.

"You can imagine if one-piece breaks, I have to have the scrap wood to replace it," said Wynter.

"So, keeping track of all the wood and stencils and components to the pieces. When you showed up you said there was a lot more wood in here than normal—yeah, my shop is a lot more crowded than not," said Wynter.

"Really from there it was a first draft. No pun intended... of every piece. I worked with the NFL creative piece and said did the whole collection match each other," said Wynter.

After cutting all the pieces, Wynter took the time to carefully glue them in place. 

"I have to be meticulous and slow and methodical with it so gluing it down goes smooth, so I don't have to redo anything. It's fully a new one for the playbook," said Wynter.

Wynter says this is the longest project he's done yet, spending a total of 700 hours on this task. 

"How do you top doing all 32 teams for the NFL lol?!" said Wynter.

The theme for the NFL Draft in Green Bay is Community. 

"The theme they came to me about is the draft is surrounded by the word 'community', said Wynter. 

"So, they really saw that connection from my art to the message they are trying to get across in Green Bay right from the get-go. That was a super surreal moment to think it’s a whole other step above just cutting wood and making art. They understand the aspect of community. I am glad they were very intentional about the way they did the draft this year and the fact they chose a local artist to do such an iconic walkway is like very humbling for me to be that person," said Wynter.

"We always try to tap into such a unique thematic for each event... We never want to go back to the well. Each location should feel special. That’s what we’re looking to do for this year," said Wright.

"We're just taking it day by day, hour by hour," said Wynter.

"I am physically driving them to Green Bay sometime between now and the draft," said Wynter.

"Everyone has been asking what will happen to the logos afterwards. That's the biggest question because a lot of people want to buy them now. They are property of the NFL. The NFL purchased them. They haven't decided what the next step is, if they will go to each team. Right now the plan is they will go to the headquarters and they will hang them up there," said Wynter.

"The project all in all is about a 600-700 hour project. It was just 500 hours of just cutting wood. We did 500 hours in just 40 days to meet the deadline. It was a very tight deadline to get this all done in time. We spent about 40 days cutting each piece and the hundreds of hours finding the wooden furniture. It was about 50 or 60 pieces of furniture that I found that made this collection. Now on the back-end gluing everything and making sure everything is right and then obviously delivering. It's been a process for sure but those 500 hours went by so quick. I don't even remember making five of these pieces to be honest," said Wynter.

"The longest I had ever spent on a piece prior to this was 200 hours—it was the crayon box. This project being a 500-700 hour project, this is the best gift to give an artist, ya know? Hey dive into something for 40 days straight and you don’t have to think about anything. It was so fun," said Wynter.

"This was the first time I stayed at my studio until sunrise. For three days straight I was here until 7:30 or 8 a.m. I got to see the sunrise which was cool. Pulling myself out of the studio was pretty tough because I wanted to stay here and keep building. It went by way too quick," said Wynter.

"Can't wait to pass these along to the NFL. Hand them off," joked Wynter.

"The process I thought I was going to do versus what I actually did was two different things. I was hoping to go by division—so do like the NFC North and then move on to the next one. That was not the case. I found that out on day one. I pretty much had to go by what piece of furniture I was tearing apart and utilizing and then really thinking of all 32 teams, every component for the teams, every color and then figuring out which tones to map out from that one piece of furniture. I would try to work on one piece at a time and then work as I went," said Wynter.

"The Bears logo, I cut the background like week one, but that was the second to last piece I put together," said Wynter.

"The Packers 'G' was the last thing I did. I wanted that to be the last part of the project. But again the background we cut two weeks into the process. And the 'G' was the last part of the process. It's the hometown team—you have to do the Packers last. I wanted to look through the tones the entire time to get the right tone for the Packers 'G.' I'm really happy with how the Packers turned out. They all have a unique flavor and characteristic to them in a unique way," said Wynter.

"For the hometown station, here’s the hometown team," said Wynter.

You can follow Ike on social media on TikTok here.