As football and the creative worlds link up continuously, more clubs are enlisting the added help of agencies when it comes to design solutions.
Both Hearts and Reading are two clubs to have gone down the external route in creating the framework for their match day programmes. Designed by London based Shoot The Moon, we spoke to the movers and shakers at the creative company to get a little under the hood of these collaborative football inspired projects.
How did Shoot The Moon get involved in the football industry?
Our first relationship within football was in 1999 through the Tottenham Hotspur FC’s print partner; who commissioned us to design the ‘Matchday Programme’ for the Club. We successfully designed the programme for a further nine years. Following on from Tottenham we won a contract direct with London Wasps, since then we have been privileged to work with a prestigious collection of both football and rugby clubs, where we offer a bespoke and tailored service to suit their needs.
Where do you start with a programme design, are you given a brief or can you start from scratch to a certain extent?
We will listen to the Club, their requirements and start from scratch producing three or four conceptual designs which are then presented to the Club. Once we have received their feedback we then proceed in producing the full programme template for the season. This template needs to be flexible to allow the design to breathe throughout the season, we don’t want the readership tiring of the design, nor the content.
Do you create the framework and then the club takes that and produces the content or is there ongoing collaboration?
It's an ongoing process; essentially the content is driven by the Club, however we do have input into the articles, the flow and the imagery throughout the season - it really is a partnership.
What has the feedback been like from the Clubs?
The feedback from both the Clubs and supporters has been very positive, we monitor the social feeds and engage with the Clubs and the readers to ensure what we produce replicates the Clubs objectives.
Certainly an interesting move by the clubs that helps alleviate the pressures on media teams that by the nature of the football world are often small with increasing demands as the creative landscape continues to be defined. The question is perhaps does the match day serve a purpose for the next generation of football fans and what will they look like in 5 years time.
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