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Wieden+Kennedy Portland
Nike’s brief to us was simple. For the most anticipated Womens’ World Cup in history, Nike wanted to make sure each of its female footballers was famous for their game and given their overdue flowers. That meant we didn’t have to talk about what they represent, how far they’ve come, how much they do or don’t get paid, or how they inspire the next generation. Basically, we could just show how badass they are on the pitch. 'What the Football' celebrates some of the best football players on the planet with frenetic and exciting visuals to match the buzz around the 2023 World Cup. Starring Megan Rapinoe, Sophia Smith, Sam Kerr, Wang Shuang, Ada Hegerberg, Debinha, Alex Morgan and Grace Geyoro.
Nike has a rich visual history of iconic posters and type treatments featuring male athletes. For the most anticipated Womens’ World Cup in history, they wanted to make sure each of its female footballers was famous for their game and given their overdue flowers. We created a design system for a series of posters highlighting each athlete and what they bring to the game, with the goal of making them household names and ensuring the next generation's image of Nike visuals featured iconic female athletes. The campaign energizes the incredible momentum in women’s sports and inspires a whole new generation of players to play like these icons.
Each athlete's key visual featured a custom type treatment inspired by their film and playing style; for instance, Sophia Smith is known to be a smiling assassin on the pitch, so we created a type treatment inspired by vintage horror movie posters with an added flair and charm to reflect her personality. Debinha's film was an homage to 'Joga Bonito'; so the design reimagined the Joga Bonito type from the iconic 90s Nike ads.
The custom typography and athlete imagery were crafted to interact with each other to create dynamic and frenetic compositions. Highlighting each athlete and what they bring to the game, with the goal of making them household names.
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