The Art of Kit Design

Okay, so you've designed a crest.

Now it needs somewhere to go.

How about a colorful work of art worn by players and fans alike?

That's right. The kit.

I said in the previous lesson that crest designs have to be timeless.

Well, if that's the case,

then kits offer a chance to have a little more fun.

Some of the best and boldest, like those we talked about in "Hall of Fame, FIFA World Cup™ Creative,"

stand out because they feel like they belong more to the past than today.

I encourage clubs to develop a consistent look for their home jersey, like a signature color palette or pattern,

but the away jersey, that's where we can really go wild.

I've had the opportunity to design a few kits throughout my career, including some of those featured in the FIFA World Cup™.

My rule of thumb in designing home-away is "one mild, one wild."

(chiming music)

 

Let's take a look at two wilds from my collection.

Nigeria 2018 home kit.

The Nigeria FIFA World Cup™ Home kit in 2018 was a really fun one to work on.

When it was released, the response was incredible.

GQ called it "a street wear grail,"

and The Fader said it was "a fashion phenomenon."

For the 2018 FIFA World Cup™,

I was assigned a few different teams to work on.

A few of them were teams hoping to make the tournament.

One, France eventually went on to win it,

but Nigeria was circled by my design director as an opportunity to try something unique and really turn some heads.

Nigeria is a vibrant nation in the arts and has a rich cultural history to pull from.

At the time, they had stars featuring in big clubs and played with a bit of an edge.

The design we came up with reflected this exactly:

an energetic striped pattern illustration was created inspired by two things:

traditional Nigerian textiles

and eagle feathers because Nigeria's football team is known as the Super Eagles, a reference to the nation's coat of arms.

The colors of the kit were pulled from the green and white of the Nigerian flag with a neon green chosen for an extra pop of energy.

In 2018, some teams were still playing in simple templated kits,

so the fully custom design for Nigeria made big waves at the tournament.

A custom bucket hat, tracksuit, and other lifestyle pieces we designed sold out quickly as well

and made the whole Nigeria collection covetable, with many pieces ending up on eBay or Grailed.

 

Vermont Green FC 2023 Home Kit.

 

This is the undisputed fan favorite among Vermont Green FC kits, at least so far.

Fans still come up to the merch booth at home games asking for it.

We call it the "Wildflower Kit,"

and it features an all-over pattern designed to honor Vermont's natural beauty,

more specifically the reemergence of greenery and the colorful bloom of springtime.

 

To me, this pattern also reflects the vibrant energy that fans have come to expect when Vermont Green takes the field in Burlington.

To get to this final design,

I played with a lot of variations on the floral,

tweaking endlessly to get the right balance of colors.

The yellow and orange seen throughout are consistent with the colors in the club's crest,

and the pink flowers were chosen to give another pop of color.

It's also a nod to Vermont's state flower, the pink-hued red clover.

The name plate and number font seen on the back makes use of the same font used in the crest for added consistency.

Because sustainability is a core value of VGFC and important to the community in Vermont,

each of these kits was made from approximately 23 recycled plastic water bottles

and was Global Recycling Standard certified.

At the hemline, each kit also features the logo for 1% for the Planet,

an acknowledgement of our club's pledge

to donate 1% of sales to approved environmental partners every year.

For the fans who are still trying to track down their own Wildflowers, stay tuned in 2026.

We might have some surprise drops up our sleeves that brings this pattern back from the vault.

Could be a hot take, but I think soccer kits are the coolest and most stylish uniforms of any sport.

It's a way to build on what you've created with the crest, and remember that most teams have home and away kits,

which allows for some fun opportunities for experimentation.

Sometimes established clubs go for simple, clean, and iconic,

while sometimes the new disruptors take big creative swings.

As always, feedback and collaboration can help you find what's right for your soccer club.

 

Before we say goodbye,

let's recap some of the learnings  in our final video.