Football icons: current and former players portrayed in posters
Designed by Serbian artistic mastermind, MARIJA MARKOVIC - ‘THE GODS OF FOOTBALL’ is a collection of posters immortalising players past and present in ink. Each poster presents itself in a unique way, whether it’s something vintage or modern, they all succeed inrepresenting the players, their club and country as well as the game itself. Using a mixture of striking typography, a combination of both pastel and bright colours; and including famed slogans and buzz words that highlight certain players’ strengths, they certainly give you a feel of the personalities of each one in turn.
Past Icons:
ZINEDINE ZIDANE
Here is a poster which really captures a football icon, doing what he did best. Zidane’s career was full of highlights at Juventus and Real Madrid, and showing his skills against the backdrop of his country flag,the in air pose perfectly displays the things Zidane can do with a ball and reflects his contribution to the game.
The toned down blue, white and red act as a backdrop for the stunning imagery of the player himself, with prominent typography capturing the importance of his role in football.
DIEGO MARADONA
With over 300 goals under his belt,the Argentinian legend is regarded as one of the greatest ever players and this poster is an excellent way of showing that. His pose, the control of the ball mixed with the alluring sky blue background provides a beautiful outlook on football and the pleasure it brings to fans.
The graphics encapsulate the speed of the player, with the lines of blue red and white demonstrating his quick ability. The phased out pastel colours of the background really allow for the high contrast image of the player himself to come to the forefront.
BOBBY MOORE
As the World Cup goes on in Brazil, it’s only right that the man who led the Three Lions to glory back in ’66 makes an appearance here. The West Ham and England icon plays it cool while holding the ball, the design portrays the classic era of football extremely well and it is ideal as a reminder of England’s triumph.
The design of the poster is very clever in the way the colour has been saturated in the image of the player, making him black and white against the pale blue background. The surname ‘Moore’ has then been highlighted in red to be more prominent in the design.
PELÉ
Winning three World Cups and a four digit number for goals in his career, including friendlies, there is no competition for arguably the best player of all time.Pelé’s ability puts beautiful in ‘the beautiful game’ and this poster emphasises the power and style he shows. The green and yellow colours of his beloved Brazil make Pelé and his posterstand out from the crowd.
The designer has chosen to use a mixture of fonts in the typography, positioned in the header and footer of the piece, including 3 buzz phrases that describe the player as a whole placed in the centre. The signature of the great player has also been used within the design of the poster, offering a lot more dimension and importance to the poster design itself.
Present Icons:
ANDREA PIRLO
Recently leading Italy to victory against England, Pirlo has established himself as a football pioneer, though that fantastic beard probably helps with this. This poster displays the might of the Juventus midfielder, the pose alone strengthens the poster and it can only inspire Italy to further success in this World Cup.
The iconic colours of the Italian flag have been used against a neutral background, including a variation in typography as seen throughout the whole collection of posters.
ARJEN ROBBEN
A talisman for Bayern Munich and the Netherlands, Robben has proven that pace and power is the key to unlocking success in football. Everything in the poster works- the use of the Dutch’s orange colours while Robben is holding the ball close and blowing a kiss- the poster shows he’s always in the driving seat!
The contrast of the blue and orange background highlights and frames the iconic image of the player himself, which is in high contrast within the setting, and a print technique is used as if the photograph has appeared in a newspaper. The designer has also used an effect on the piece to look like it has been held up on an admirer’s wall by sticky tape.
STEVEN GERRARD
The Liverpool and England captain has mastered the way of football. The poster captures the success that the Reds are having despite just missing out on the league title.
The striped red and white background is used to host an animated image of the player laid over the top, with not only the Liverpool crest in the right-hand corner, but also a contrasting typeface for the word ‘England’.
LIONEL MESSI
Of course he’s considered the best player in the world right now and the poster is perfect in showing the Barcelona hitman looking to add to his 300+ goal tally, while surrounded by stylish red isosceles triangles; even they can’t stop Messi from achieving his goal.
The sharp contrast in the spikey red triangles and the blue background not only highlight the colours of the Argentinian flag, but also could be perceived in a way that many arrows are pointing to the player, highlighting his importance, giving that ‘all eyes on him’ feel to the piece.
The black and white image of the player is then laid over the top of this colourful backdrop with buzz words positioned around him. This is probably one of my favourite of the collection design-wise.
This is just a taste of the various posters of iconic past and present players, from Eric Cantona and Dennis Bergkamp to Ryan Giggs and Miroslav Klose. The beauty of football is found in every one of these posters and even if you’re distracted by the World Cup, they are still eye catching enough.
If you need a poster designing, or if you require posters similar to this printing, then we offer poster printing services, as well as our own in-house design team. For more information on Photoline and the services that we offer, visit www.photoline.co.uk, email us at print@photoline.co.uk or call 0191 2325454.