Step-by-Step Graphics

Article deconstructs the craft of capturing the world’s favorite sport in a single image

Excerpt

The Universal Picture

How Supon Design Group graphically deciphered the world’s favorite pastime

Soccer’s Under-17 (U-17) World Championship is the kind of event that redefines the word “big.”

It’s big competition: On average, 60 countries participate in the event, including the United States, where 11 million players have made soccer one of our favorite youth sports. It has a big fan club: The total television audience for the most recent U-17 games, the prestigious international competition for players under the age of 17, was logged at 594 million—more viewers than the Super Bowl and the last World Cup combined. And it is big business: The games are conducted by ISL Marketing, an arm of The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), which administrates World Cup Soccer and claims more member countries than the United Nations.

So it’s no surprise that when ISL Marketing decided that the U-17 graphic identity needed an updated look in time for the new season, it would be a big project. The U-17 championships, ISL felt, needed a new, dynamic mark to suit such a monumental event. And the new logo, said the ISL, must be instantly coherent to an audience that is so diverse, its only common link may be a love of soccer.