VIEWPOINT COLOR 19 - FOOTBALL!
With this issue, we explore how color direction can be built entirely from the world of football, not only as a visual reference, but as a structured framework.
Football offers a rare clarity in how color systems are constructed, maintained, and evolved over time. This balance between permanence and progression is extremely relevant for design industries navigating brand longevity within accelerated cycles. Football demonstrates that when color is embedded within systems of meaning, ritual, and community, it transcends aesthetics and becomes infrastructure. Something that carries culture, memory, and identity across time and scale.
THE COVER FEATURES A PHOTOGRAPH BY GILLEAM TRAPENBERG, CREATED AS PART OF THE ‘AROUND THE WORLD’ CAMPAIGN BY LACK OF GUIDANCE IN COLLABORATION WITH NEW BALANCE
Published twice/year: June/December
Origin: The Netherlands
CONTENTS VPC#19 FOOTBALL
ULTRAS
ULTRAS is a documentary by Swedish filmmaker Ragnhild Ekner that explores the global phenomenon of football ultras. Filmed across eight countries on four continents, the filmdocuments supporters’ vibrant displays, choreographies, and rituals, highlighting how these fan communities shape and are shaped by their social and political contexts. From tifo creation in Gothenburg to women’s presence in Indonesia and mass gatherings in Morocco, ULTRAS provides an insider view of football culture, its collective energy, and its worldwide impact, presented as a tribute rather than a critical review.
CREDIT: Morocco, Raja Casablanca, photography by Fabian Sigurd
INFLUENCES
MARTIN KAZANIETZ
Martin Kazanietz paints the spirit of amateur football in Patagonia, Argentina, capturing the quirks and rituals of local matches. His murals and canvases depict pre-game cigarettes, post-match beers, stretched shirts, and humble trophies, turning everyday games into vivid scenes. He works from words and sketches, translating real experiences into expressive compositions on walls and canvas. Through his art, Martin celebrates the camaraderie, humor, and social rituals that define informal football, portraying its culture with warmth and affection.
ARTE
Belgian streetwear label Arte Antwerp teamed up with Adidas and Ilyes Griyeb to explore life around football pitches in Marrakech, Morocco. The project celebrates how sport connects communities across cities and generations, capturing the rituals, energy, and everyday moments that define local football culture. Shot in the heart of Morocco, the collaboration highlights the creativity, play, and shared passion that emerge around the game, showing football as a vibrant, unifying force.
LACK OF GUIDANCE
“Around the World” is a global campaign by Lack of Guidance and New Balance, exploring football culture across Curaçao, Egypt, Italy, and the Netherlands. A football pitch, a crowd, and no real rules, just energy. For the launch of the eleven-piece capsule collection, Lack of Guidance and New Balance transformed Studio 3000 into a living, breathing game, blurring the line betweensport and culture. What began as a product launch became an immersive experience, part installation, part match, part afterparty. Rooted in the idea of unstructured play, the night rejected rigid formats in favor of spontaneity. Penalty shootouts, DJs, and a crowd dressed in a reimagined vision of football culture turned the space into a celebration of community over competition. Spanning continents, stories, and everyday rituals, the collection reframes football as a global language, worn differently yet understood everywhere. No tactics. No formation. Just instinct, style, and the freedom to play your own way.
RENATA BRENHA
Renata Brenha, a Brazilian womenswear designer based in London, transforms everyday and surplus materials into luxurious, sustainable garments. Rooted in the Brazilian ethos of Gambiarra, the art of making do through ingenuity, vintage football jerseys are cut, twisted, and reshaped into bold, sculptural forms. Other materials in the collection include tablecloths, ’70s-inspired polos, reclaimed crochet, and recycled denim. Using pleating, hand-smocking, crochet, and draping, the artist combines Brazilian folklore and popular culture with inventive textile manipulation, turning familiar materials into extraordinary, joyful designs that blend resourcefulness, luxury, and movement.
