New brand identities created for European football cups

New brand identities are being unveiled for European football competitions the Champions League, the Europa League and the Super Cup.

The new Champions League brand will launch with the draw for the group stage in Monaco tomorrow, while the Super Cup branding will launch on Friday when the match takes place in the same city.

The Europa League branding will launch when the competition’s group stage kicks off on 17 September.

All the competitions are run by the Union of European Football Associations.

London consultancy Radiant Studios, which formed at the beginning of last year from the ashes of screen branding specialist English & Pockett, has updated the Champions League brand.

Radiant creative director Michael Berthon says he has been working on the Champions League brand for around nine years, and has built up a team at the consultancy that has a great deal of experience with the client.

Radiant repitched for the work in early 2008, and was appointed in mid-summer of that year. Berthon says, ‘

This was one of the first jobs we got as Radiant.’ The consultancy has created a cross-platform brand which builds on the ‘ultimate stage’ concept that was introduced in 2006. On-screen branding, print collateral and design guidelines have all been produced.

Central to the brand is the creation of giant banners, which hang from the stadium rafters. Berthon says, ‘The addition of banners has opened up [new] opportunities for integrating club colours and match action into the designs, as well as offering sponsors a means to truly integrate their brands.’ Radiant has also adapted the competition’s logo, which was created by Design Bridge in 1992.

Radiant Studios is additionally working on the visual identity for the Europa League final in Hamburg in May 2010. It was appointed to this task two weeks ago following a pitch earlier in the summer.

London screen branding consultancy Ingredient has created the on- and off-screen branding for the Europa League, which this year replaces the Uefa Cup.

Ingredient was appointed at the end of last year after pitching for the work in September 2008, according to director Andy Godden.

The consultancy’s work aims to convey the brand positioning of ‘challengers on a European adventure’, says Godden. It has also created all the print collateral, including banners and match programmes. The identity for the Europa League was created by FutureBrand. Ingredient has also created branding for the Super Cup, a single-match competition that will be played between Champions League holders Barcelona and Uefa Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk on Friday. As well as looking at the on- and off-screen branding, the consultancy has also updated the visual identity, says Godden.

Ingredient worked with postproduction group Prime Focus London on both projects.

UEFA LEAGUES:

• Champions League – Europe’s top football trophy, which features the winners from leagues across Europe
• Europa League – launches this year, replacing the Uefa Cup. Features teams that finish in various runners-up positions in European leagues, and the winners of domestic cup competitions
• Super Cup – a match played between the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League