The Client

It is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Toronto FC joined MLS in 2007 as an expansion team and was the first Canadian-based franchise in the league. They are seven-time winners of the Canadian Championship and were runners-up of the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019. As of 2019, the club has an estimated value of US$395 million and the highest player payroll in Major League Soccer.

Problem

My client was looking to develop a unique merchandise campaign to celebrate Art Week. I was asked to develop a new campaign celebrating a Canadian designer (Burton Kramer) while continuing to embrace the essence of their sports team brand.

Solution

My audience was small kids. Not to mention they play more soccer than any other age group. As people grow up and mature, sport becomes more competitive. Hardcore and loyal fans will always tell you that the love for the team began when they were young. Because this project was supposed to reflect a certain artist and their work, I wanted to find a way for my campaign to promote art and design to younger generations that are still very open-minded to many possibilities. I also wanted my campaign to be a way for the team to be promoted so they can gain new young fans and if those that attend were already fans they will now gain an experience that increases that love.

When developing my concept for the event I knew I had to come up with something that would appeal to kids and their families because of course if kids are there their parents are the ones that brought them. Therefore, this event had to be for the family. I knew because the event and its promotional materials revolve around the team and my artist that I wanted to create activities during the event that supported soccer and graphic design. The artist I have chosen is Burton Kramer. He is a prominent graphic designer and artist who lives and works in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Since he is a Toronto native, he definitely knows the culture and is probably very much aware of the significance of his hometown team because soccer is the most played sport in the world. Furthermore, the other aspect is a sense of patriotism which stems from pride for your home team.

The result

Based on observation, I noticed the key colors were red and grey along with white. Then I saw that the designs have patterns and often they were geometric and simple in their individual color scheme. The patterns were not a big focal point, but rather an added supporting element. The designs overall are very modern giving that they are structured and clean. Personally, I pay a lot of attention to the typography of the original designs because later for my own I do not want to choose new typography that disrupts the already existing vibe for the team.