The World Cup: A Graphic History

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THE WORLD CUP: A GRAPHIC HISTORY


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The World Cup has become one of the most anticipated and celebrated sporting competitions on the planet, watched by about half of the world’s population. Countries spend years and billions of dollars preparing to compete—not to mention hosting the Cup. Brazil spent $14 billion this year. Clearly, this is a branding success story of phenomenal proportions. How has the World Cup brand evolved over time?

Every four years, FIFA selects a host nation and they design the event in their vision, revealing not just how the host country views itself, but how our world has changed—and design along with it. Believe it or not, the World Cup had no logo until the 1950s; by 2014, the logo was created with animation in mind demonstrating the kinetic nature of brands today. What stories do these graphic identities tell about their moments in time and our shared global experience? We reached back in branding history to find out.

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The logo is titled “Inspiration.” Its colors symbolize the ecology of the host nation; tropics (green) and

beaches (gold). They are also colors of the Brazilian flag. The five fingers can represent Brazil’s five World

Cup victories. Three hands are raised to form the trophy and animate together for interstitial broadcast

elements. The hands are meant to welcome everyone to the tournament but also evoke cheering and

coming together of people. This is the first World Cup logo designed with kinetics in mind. The official

poster was presented conceptually by Brazilian agency Crama as “an entire country at football’s

service—Brazil and football: one shared identity.”

2014 BRAZIL

TOURNAMENT BALL

Brazuca

POSTER

Karen Haidinger

Crama

LOGO

Africa Agency

MASCOT

Fuleco

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The slogan for the 2010 World Cup was “Ke Nako. Celebrate Africa's Humanity.” The graphic identity

features a black silhouette of a bicycle kick with African colors throughout. Ke Nako simply means

'it's time.' And indeed Africa's time had come to use the 2010 FIFA World Cup to change perceptions

of Africa and reposition the continent in a positive light with South Africa as the theatre and Africa the

stage. Having successfully campaigned for South Africa to be granted host status, an emotional

Nelson Mandela raised the FIFA World Cup Trophy.

2010 SOUTH AFRICA

TOURNAMENT BALL

Jabulani

POSTER

Paul Dale

Switch Design

LOGO

Gaby de Abreu

Switch Design

MASCOT

Zakumi

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The slogan “time to make friends” is articulated graphically in an identity portraying emotions of

joy and exuberance. Two of the faces are formed from a “06.” The theme reflects our increasingly

connected planet and embodies the higher aspirations of the game to bring people together.

2006 GERMANY

TOURNAMENT BALL

Teamgeist

POSTER

WE DO Communication

LOGO

Whitestone Agency

MASCOT

Goleo VI/Sidekick Pille

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Contemporary graphic articulation of the World Cup trophy itself evokes multiple meanings; unity

between host nations, forward movement, the literal inbounding of a ball. The poster evokes all

of these themes with the additional urgency of Asian calligraphic brush strokes. The 2002 symbol

makes appearances in 2006 and 2010.

2002 JAPAN/KOREA

TOURNAMENT BALL

Fevernova

POSTER

Byun Choo Suk/Hirano Sogen

LOGO

Interbrand

MASCOT

Ato/Kaz/Nik

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This logo is rendered in French national colors and shows the football rising over the France on the

Earth’s horizon as if it is the sun. The poster is more gestural and celebratory, suggesting the festive

blending together of many nations and football fans.

1998 FRANCE

TOURNAMENT BALL

Tricolore

POSTER

Natalie le Gall

LOGO

ADSA Company

MASCOT

Footix

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This bold, graphic logo represents both the host nation and the movement and energy of the sport

simultaneously. The poster is a more emotional evocation of the spirit and joy of football. The selection

of Pentagram for the logo and Peter Max for the poster demonstrates clear strategic communications

planning: graphically targeting both the heart and mind.

1994 UNITED STATES

TOURNAMENT BALL

Questra

POSTER

Peter Max

LOGO

Pentagram

MASCOT

Striker

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The logo utilizes the colors of the Italian flag in relation to custom stencil typography to create an implied

three dimensional graphic field. Italian painter and sculptor Alberto Burri connects modern sport to the

heritage of the Roman Coliseum.

1990 ITALY

TOURNAMENT BALL

Etrusco

POSTER

Alberto Burri

LOGO

Artist Unknown

MASCOT

Ciao

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The mark visualizes “the world united by ball" slogan by featuring both sides of the globe. The inline

typography references the famous Lance Wyman 1968 Olympic identity, as well as the 1970 World Cup

typography, also both hosted by Mexico. Although the articulation is different, Wyman’s seminal work

cannot be ignored. The poster features a compelling photographic interplay between Aztec architectural

heritage and contemporary human forms by Annie Liebovitz, the first woman commissioned to create a

poster in the series.

1986 MEXICO

TOURNAMENT BALL

Azteca

POSTER

Annie Leibovitz

LOGO

Artist Unknown

MASCOT

Pique

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The central portion of the logo is simplified into two fundamental elements: the Spanish flag and a

football. This communicates with no letters and was pulled out as a signature in the poster. The full

version of the logo is a celebration of the flags of participating nations. The poster, created by national

treasure Joan Miró, depicts a celebratory somersault filled with Spanish colors and the declarative

statement of home “España!”

1982 SPAIN

TOURNAMENT BALL

Tango España

POSTER

Joan Miró

LOGO

Artist Unknown

MASCOT

Naranjito

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The logo contains a simple graphic football depicted within vertical striping in the colors of the host

nation which can represent a jersey, goal, or cupped hands. The poster utilizes a stylized halftone

screen capturing a both an emotional game moment and the media of the era.

1978 ARGENTINA

TOURNAMENT BALL

Tango

POSTER

Mandatos Internacionales Agency

LOGO

Artist Unknown

MASCOT

Gauchito

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The logo is very much a product of minimalist industrial age graphic design. The bold, simple forms are

evocative of a ball, the point of contact, motion, the shape of a goal. WM is short for Weltmeisterschaft

which means World Cup in German. The explicit need for a global kind of inclusiveness is evident in the

mark, however, when contextualized on other elements such as the textural poster, multicultural globalism

comes through.

1974 WEST GERMANY

TOURNAMENT BALL

Durlast

POSTER

Fritz Genkinger

LOGO

Artist Unknown

MASCOT

Tip/Tap

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The logo and the poster are embodiments of simplicity. They both utilize simple positive and negative

forms to graphically depict a football. The inline typography was clearly an extension of Lance Wyman’s

1968 Olympic identity, which has been hailed as a pinnacle of branding and wayfinding. Taken together,

the 1968 Olympics and 1970 World Cup branded Mexico itself. The bold use of color is not directly

related to host nation's national colors, however, it could be thought of as an exemplification of the

richness of color in the country itself. Brazil takes home the Jules Rimet trophy permanently.

1970 MEXICO

TOURNAMENT BALL

Telstar

POSTER

Lance Wyman

LOGO

Lance Wyman

MASCOT

Juanito

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A literal depiction of the world superimposed upon a soccer ball with Jules Rimet trophy and an English

coat of arms in the foreground. Everything is symmetrically aligned within the iconic British flag design.

Includes name of cup. Poster playfully features “Willie,” the 1966 mascot playfully booting the football

into the sky.

1966 ENGLAND

TOURNAMENT BALL

Slazenger Ball

POSTER

Carvosso

LOGO

Artist Unknown

MASCOT

Willie

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The logo positions Chile's national flag on the ground within a stadium, symbolizing that the World Cup

is taking place on their ground. Behind the stadium is both a globe and football. In the poster the earth

and a football are conjoined in space. The globe is turned to reveal Chile highlighted in red with the ball is

perhaps headed that direction. Translation: Football World Championship.

1962 CHILE

TOURNAMENT BALL

The Crack

POSTER

Galvarino Ponce

LOGO

Artist Unknown

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VM is an abbreviation for Varldsmasterskapet, Swedish for “World Championship.” Although it is referred

to as a “logo,” the illustration is hardly what we think of as a trademark today. Regardless, the expression

of the World Cup brand shines through very clearly: A celebration of global community through

competitive football.

1958 SWEDEN

TOURNAMENT BALL

Top Star

POSTER

Saul Bass

LOGO

Saul Bass

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The trademark is a bi-product of its era: Simple, utilitarian, and official. This is Swiss design following

Modernism in the industrial revolution. The text translates to “World Football Championship” in three

languages: French, German, and Italian—the three languages most closely related to Switzerland.

The poster captures the game’s penultimate moment: The goal. It does not utilize the trademark.

1954 SWITZERLAND

TOURNAMENT BALL

Swiss Zig-Zag

POSTER

Paul Werner Weisskönig

LOGO

Artist Unknown

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A return to friendly competition after the horrors of World War II. Although this was the first competition

to use an actual logo, it was still very poster-like. In fact, it’s hard at first glance to tell the difference.

The “logo” incorporates Brazil’s national colors into the design, while the poster brings the flags of

participating nations into the illustration, literally on the leg of the footballer.

1950 BRAZIL

TOURNAMENT BALL

Tossolini Superball

POSTER

J. Ney

LOGO

Artist Unknown

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A powerful articulation of confidence: A victorious figure with the world is at his feet. There may also

be some pre-WWII posturing here. The poster embodies many characteristics of Modernism from the

condensed, decorative typography to a graphical embodiment of Romanticism and a recapitulation of

Expressionism in color.

1938 FRANCE

TOURNAMENT BALL

French Allen

POSTER

Henri Desmé

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Deco-era sans serif typography anchors a strong symmetrical illustration featuring an Italian player with

white and green socks crossed by the flags of competing countries. Prefiguring (or perhaps informing)

Hitler’s use of the Olympics to promote his Nazi agenda, Mussolini used the World Cup to promote

fascism with propaganda and media control.

1934 ITALY

TOURNAMENT BALL

Federale

POSTER

Gino Boccasile

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Guillermo Laborde’s poster for the inaugural World Cup is an elegant expression of Art Deco design.

The outstretched arms of the goalie have caught the ball at the pinnacle of the goal frame. He is dressed

in Uruguay's national colors. In contrast to the typography in 1934’s poster, the type here is on the more

decorative side of Deco.

1930 URUGUAY

TOURNAMENT BALL

T-Model

POSTER

Guillermo Laborde

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The World Cup: A Graphic History