Project hero image for Hooper's x The Texas Chainsaw Massacre displaying three bandanas from front-to-back, one in red with white illustrative ornamentation relating to the film storyline, one in maroon with animal skull illustrations in white, and one in black with white illustrative ornamentation relating to the film storyline.

Exploring Merch Design: Hooper’s x
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Timeline: 3 Months
Role: 1 of 2 Designers, individual work
Client: Hooper's Diner, Kingsland, TX
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Procreate

A three-month contracted project to expand Hooper’s merchandise for a limited-time October retail activation celebrating The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Hooper’s is located in the original house filming took part in, which was moved from Rockwall, TX to Kingsland, TX, and named in homage to the director Tobe Hooper.

Working alongside Hooper’s marketing lead, I contributed to the concept, design, and development of physical merchandise spanning adult apparel, bandanas, keychains, children’s shirts, and embroidered patches. Several designs moved into production, while others remained conceptual due to scope and manufacturing constraints.

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The Brief

Building on the success of Hooper’s 50th anniversary celebration, the diner aimed to expand its merchandise into a collection that could support a recurring annual event. Designs needed to resonate with long-time fans while remaining relevant beyond a single anniversary year.



Design Approach


I grounded my design decisions in close engagement with the film and with fans' responses. The goal was to create a range of merchandise that balanced overt horror imagery with quieter, referential nods, allowing fans to choose how visibly they aligned with the film.

The Deliverables

Physical Merchandise Designs: hats, adult and youth apparel, bandanas, keychains, and embroidered patches

Production-ready Design Assets: finalized graphics, colorways, and manufacturing specifications

Conceptual Merchandise Proposals: additional merchandise exploring form, illustration, and audience engagement

The Research Phase

I revisited the film with a focus on scenes that lingered emotionally. This was paired with an exploration of original 1974 promotional materials and fan reactions to identify moments that felt iconic, unsettling, or unexpectedly memorable.

Ideating for a Broad Audience

A key discussion within the team centered on designing for a broad spectrum of horror fans. From those drawn to graphic imagery to those who prefer subtle references.

Direct use of film stills was encouraged, alongside the reuse of visual motifs across products to create cohesion throughout the collection.

Point-of-Sale Merch: The Keychains

Keychains were my addition to the proposed merchandise list, inspired by the popularity of embroidered patches from the 50th anniversary event. Designed similarly as an affordable, point-of-sale item, they functioned as small souvenirs guests could bring home or share with friends.

Given the pop-up store’s location inside The Antler’s Inn, a Texas Historic Landmark hotel, I designed the graphics to live within a retro motel-style form.

Inspiration: Fan reactions consistently highlighted the same moments I found most unsettling: Leatherface’s first appearance and the red wall lined with animal skulls. I paired an immediately recognizable image with a quieter, more referential detail that fans with good eyes will catch.

Constructing a Cohesive Image: The T-Shirts

Although t-shirts were not part of my initial scope, the illustrations developed for keychains presented an opportunity to expand into apparel through smaller, pocket-scale graphics.

A Lesson in Staying Flexible

One concept evolved from a skeleton couch hat design into a full shirt illustration, referencing a pivotal shot in the film. The expanded composition emphasized the looming fear experienced by Pam (played by Teri McMinn) rather than explicit gore.

During review, the illustration raised concerns due to its similarity in pose and perspective to work by McMinn post-film. While not necessarily problematic, we chose to pivot out of respect and caution.

I reworked the concept by directly referencing a film still and reframing the moment as a comic-style panel. Early iterations explored an abstract composition with floating eyes and Leatherface, but centering Pam ultimately conveyed dread more effectively within a limited color palette.

Due to timing constraints, this design did not move into production for the October event, but it remains production-ready.

Developing Modular Illustrations for Reuse: The Bandanas

Bandanas were designed as modular illustration systems that could extend across multiple products. I reused visual elements such as the animal skulls from the keychains and developed sequential imagery that loosely followed the film’s narrative arc.

Display of the maroon bandana layed on a shelf with a fake deer antler paper-weight sitting on top.
Pop-up store wall display showing the red bandana pinned up.
Refined illustration of the film storyline concept showing more ornamentation from the initial idea.
Initial composition of the animal skull bandana concept, originally designed in a black and white color palette.

Working with Type: The Patches

The embroidered patches had the fastest turnaround in the collection and allowed for greater typographic experimentation.

Inspiration: I focused on adapting longer quotes into compact formats by breaking text into rhythmic hierarchies. Visual references from the original promotional material, such as the iconic slashed logo and dynamic chainsaw angles, informed the compositions.

Mixing Humor and Horror: The Youth Collection

The youth collection intentionally departs from the darker palette and visual language of the adult merchandise. Drawing from existing examples of children’s horror merchandising, we explored humor and play as tools to soften fear while maintaining narrative connection.

Inspiration: I gravitated toward concepts inspired by children’s games, reimagining Sally as the victor in a Tic-Tac-Toe board or reframing the chase sequence as a game of Duck Duck Goose. These designs celebrate our final girl while incorporating playfulness, transforming fear into something approachable for children.

Reflecting Forwards: Takeaways

Primary Research
While my research relied heavily on archival materials and online fan responses, I believe access to customer feedback from the 50th anniversary event would have deepened insights. As a contracted designer, contacting customers fell outside my scope, but I find there is room to highlight the value of direct audience engagement.

Though as contracted designer, it would have been an overstep of my role at the time.

Production Awareness
Transitioning from student work to production-ready design reinforced how critical timelines, printing limitations, and manufacturing constraints are in shaping outcomes.

Project Prioritization
Managing multiple product categories required constant reassessment of time, effort, and impact, strengthening my ability to prioritize designs strategically.