Football's back! Okay, not everyone loves soccer (a quick vote in the Creative Bloq office demonstrates only a minority interest...), but scratch beneath the surface and there's always something fascinating to be found - as Ben Steers has discovered...
Take the typefaces used on the brand-new 2012/13 kits of one of the world's biggest clubs, FC Barcelona. These are custom fonts, created by the Catalan capital's Studio Vasava and commissioned by Nike, Barca's kit manufacturer.
Vasava has an 18-strong workforce which specialises in cross-media projects for internationally recognised clients such as Nike, Rocawear, Adobe, Diesel, and Red Bull.
Having worked on numerous Nike sporting projects in the past, the team at Vasava took inspiration for the typeface from one of the city's most celebrated architects - Antoni Gaudi. The studio explained how they took inspiration from, "the subtle cuts and angles of the chimneys of Gaudi's Pedrera", when creating this unique typeface.
The typeface itself is a contemporary sans-serif with a clean, dynamic feel. Something I imagine would have been an essential part of the brief, as the typeface will have to be visible from long distances.
The introduction of the cuts, as influenced by Gaudi's architecture, add not only a subtle reference to the city's cultural history, but also an energy and depth which don't detract from the characters' style and legibility.
Ben Steers is co-founder and managing director of Fiasco Design, a small creative agency delivering big results.
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What do you think of the Barca typeface? Have you spotted any cool fonts on this season's football kits? Tell us in the Comments below!
