2027 Angler Pro Design “Emberstrike” with Artist Taylor Berman
6-minute read
We were thrilled to have Taylor Berman—the artist who designed our 2026 award-winning Angler Pro Bruiser kayak paddle design—create another original design for us for 2027, Emberstrike.
Emberstrike is the 2027 color for Bending Branches’ Angler Pro kayak fishing paddle
Taylor, a full-time artist and avid angler living in western Wisconsin with his family, was happy to give us a few minutes to tell us more about this unique design.
Here’s our interview with Taylor Berman:
BENDING BRANCHES: Tell us how this design, Emberstrike, came into being.
TAYLOR: We were thinking about how this paddle is geared towards anglers, and had a conversation about different species that are relevant to the idea of targeting fish from a kayak. We focused on warm water species we catch on lakes and larger rivers in the region.
While it was the smallmouth bass that inspired the Bruiser design, Emberstrike features a sunfish, the pumpkinseed. Sunfish are often people’s first fish. They’re often what gets them into fishing. They’re relatable across the board, being a common dock catch or species for those who grew up at a cabin.
When we were looking at the different types of native sunfish, the pumpkinseed is just so striking visually. It’s almost tropical in the markings and range of colors. It’s a really beautiful fish that represents this idea of going out mid-summer and lake fishing from a kayak.
It might not be the biggest trophy fish, but it’s symbolic of this area—lake country—and a great source of food for people wanting to harvest wild food. It’s a very sustainable resource. There are plenty of sunfish around.
From there it was just fun. All those different patterns transition across the flank of the fish, and especially around the eyes and cheek areas. There’s a concentration of turquoise and almost iridescent blue hues that I wanted to capture.
While the Bruiser design was printed as more of the full artwork, the full flank of the fish, Emberstrike zooms in on the turquoise and orange contrast near the eyes. Bruiser has a little more of a camo design for the stealthy angler. But this concept moved a bit to the other end of the spectrum, being more vibrant. We didn’t really have to do a lot to enhance the colors, as they were already pretty naturally there in the fish.
Sunfish are one of the more common fish we catch as a family, so it had a lot of familiarity for me. But even going back over our photos, I could see how each cheek pattern is kind of like its own little fingerprint. They all vary slightly. It was fun to develop a design inspired by these different references.
We didn’t want to get too abstract, other than simply cropping the focus. My main goal was to reflect the natural beauty that exists in these fish we seek and revere.
BRANCHES: From there, what was your design process?
TAYLOR: Because of the type of printing and resolution needed to be translated to the silk printing, I created the design directly in a digital format. At the same time, we were going for a more analog feel.
So I used a program called Procreate that’s pixel-based rather than vector-based, along with Photoshop. Then there are a bunch of third-party tools that I bring into those programs that allow me to use strokes that look like pencils or watercolors or charcoal.
I did a lot of layering like I would with analog art. I like using watercolors to fill, both with printmaking and even with pencil drawings. I’ll use watercolors as a color base, then build color pencil details to overlap, texturize and build a little more contrast. So it’s like an analog approach but in a digital program to try to achieve the hand-drawn look that’s easily translatable to the printing process.
Taylor with his son at the river
BRANCHES: What’s it like working with the Branches’ team for a design like this?
TAYLOR: It’s been a lot of fun and super easy to work with the folks at Bending Branches. We had some initial meetings to discuss people’s thoughts and vision. What they wanted to achieve with the design concept. We narrowed down the species together. They felt happy with the diversity of one design being a little more earth-toned, and one being more vibrant as far as aesthetics.
Then they cut me loose to do some initial compositional work. I sketched out how the flank pattern would fall into the template of the fabric and blade shape. We passed those sketches back and forth so they could make sure it looked good on their end. Then I went into it with full color and detail.
It was a pleasure working with them. They were very flexible, great at communicating the core things they need out of it, and it made for a really smooth process.
BRANCHES: What other cool art projects have you been working on since our conversation a year ago?
TAYLOR: Spring and summer are my seasons for the outdoor work, the big murals. I’m starting to switch gears towards more of this kind of design work. I did a few new murals this summer. [See Taylor's recent designs and murals for venues in Milwaukee, Upper Michigan and Minneapolis.]
I’ve also done some projects recently with a company called Simms. A different realm than Bending Branches, but still in the fishing industry. They make waders and boots for fly anglers, along with apparel, packs and a bunch of accessories. This was such a cool opportunity, and in fact, I have a hat in their fall line.
Taylor fishing with his daughter
I’m really enjoying getting to work on these kinds of projects and forming relationships in this kind of small world yet big world of fishing. I would never have imagined being able to design a kayak fishing paddle. But it’s a really cool way to bring my art and fishing together, as it’s been with Simms.
BRANCHES: What fishing adventures have you had lately?
TAYLOR: Inland trout season just wrapped up. It was a slow end to the year because we were pretty droughty. There hasn’t been a whole lot of rain so all the rivers were very low. Trout are visual and spooky, so it was a rough end of the season.
But I had a great last day! It rained on Thursday, the last day of the season, and I caught probably the biggest brown trout of my life. It was a mature male. Their jaw kind of curls up on the bottom like a salmon when they get older—called a kype—and this thing had a big gnarly one:
We got the kids out quite a bit this year and had a blast catching panfish, along with some nice smallies and pike.
To learn more about Taylor and his background in art, as well as his initial connection to Bending Branches, read our interview with him from 2025: Meet the Artist Who Designed our 2026 Angler Pro Paddle.
See Taylor’s website at taylorbermanart.com. You can also follow him on Instagram: @taylorbermanart.
All photos courtesy of Taylor Berman (except the photo at the top).
What paddling questions can our friendly Customer Service team help you with? Contact us at 715-755-3405 or bbinfo@bendingbranches.com.
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