Liverpool Home Kit 2010-12
Posted by John Devlin
As a little taster for a more in depth review of a selection of 10-11 season kits that will be coming shortly I thought I’d just feature the new adidas Liverpool home kit for 2010-12 (yes, two seasons!!) The strip was one of the earliest to be involved a few months ago and despite being slightly underwhelmed the design (like most of adidas’ recent strips actually) has really grown on me. Its a design that just screams “Liverpool” despite the arrival of new sponsors Standard Chartered who replace the old familiar Carlsberg. The shirt features a simple crew neck devoid of any trim and a diamond shadow pattern clearly inspired by the club’s 1989-91 silver away kit that was worn in the last season Liverpool won the title. No coincidence there I’m sure. The shorts are virtually identical to the previous kits with the exception of a very subtle piece of gold piping that also features on the shirt. Nice to see a third colour back on the Red’s kit. The Liver Bird still doesn’t return as the club’s badge on the kit but it does crop up in gold on the socks.
In my view its a good, solid looking kit and it will be interesting to see if the new kit, sponsor and most importantly manager, will bring Liverpool some good fortune this season.
Umbro’s Walls
Posted by John Devlin
Its great to see how Umbro have got so behind England in the World Cup. They’ve gone above and beyond in their support for the team – far exceeding their role as just kit supplier.
One of their more creative ventures is the creation of commemorative walls in the hometowns of the players and manager Fabio Capello. Each wall is situated on a building that was significant or has relevance to the early life/development of each England squad player and features their squad number and the slogan ‘Tailored by…’ followed by the town name. Its a great idea that really aims to unite the country in support for the team. How many will be graffitied by the end of the tournament though remains to be seen…
The examples shown are David James’ wall in Welwyn Garden City and Rio Ferdinand’s wall in Peckham.
For more details on where to find the walls check out Umbro’s website
England’s lucky red shirt?
Posted by John Devlin
Any reader of True Colours will know how much interest I have in the symbolism and importance of a good looking kit and the power of colour theory. Although I am a massive fan of the current England home shirt, it doesn’t seem to have brought the side much in the way of good fortune in South Africa. With the game against Slovenia now proving make or break for Capello’s team I can’t help but wonder if the fact that England will be wearing their red away kit in the match will have any bearing on the performance?
The spirit of ‘66 is definitely required now if England are to lift themselves out of what has been a torrid tournament so far for them and the latest away shirt is the closest recent design to the jersey sported by Bobby Moore and the rest of team when England last won the trophy.
Could this fact and the proven significance of red as a sporting colour help inspire the team to do the business on Wednesday?
Kick Magazine
Posted by John Devlin
As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post the current edition of Kick magazine has a full double page spread of all my home World Cup kit illustrations.
The next edition will be on sale soon so if you want to pick up a copy with the kits in you better hurry!
World Cup Kits 2010 now posted
Posted by John Devlin
I’ve just posted a full set of all 64 home and away kits for this year’s World Cup.
You can see them all here.
BBC Radio Merseyside Interview
Posted by John Devlin
The new Everton away kit is being launched tomorrow and BBC Radio Merseyside have asked me for a live interview to talk about the design.
If you’re interested you can catch it on Thursday 3 June 2010 at approximately 8.20am.
Click here to listen to BBC Radio Merseyside via the BBC iPlayer.
Better shake off this pesky jetlag before then!!
May Blog
Posted by John Devlin
I love the end of the season! This one’s been a cracker with so many questions unanswered until the last few games.
Out of the clubs for whom I regularly contribute kit illustrations in their programmes I was delighted to see Leeds United and Notts County both get promoted and Cardiff still in with a very good shout and going up to the Premiership via the Play-offs.
I was also really pleased to see Sunderland’s matchday programme (to which I also contribute) win both top programme awards for 2009-10.
Of course, the other great thing about the end of the season is the gradual unveiling of the new kits. I will document these fully in the coming months but my initial impressions are mixed. I think the Liverpool home kit will grow on me (still no Liver Bird badge though grrr..) although no one seems to have mentioned that the shadow pattern is based on their late 80s away kit, not home. The Chelsea home kit is OK, not stunning, but OK. I like the look of what Burrda have done with the Wolves strips – looks like we’re heading for a retro/classically styled 10-11 campaign. I’ve still got mixed feelings about Pompey wearing Kappa for the cup but I love what I’ve seen of their white/burgundy/pink away shirt for the Cup Final.
I also hope to complete my 09-10 illustrations of Premiership and Championship kits very soon.
I’ll be posting a complete record of all home and away World Cup kits before the tournament kicks off in June. Football magazine Kick will also include a double page spread of all my WC home kit illustrations in their edition on sale 26 May.
I was interested to see whilst preparing the illustrations how the vast majority of kits in the World Cup are white. Cast your mind back 2 years to Euro 2008 where red was the dominant colour, this time round the hue is relatively scarce:
Still on the subject of the World Cup, I was flattered to be asked recently by the Gaffer from the rather excellent www.epltalk.com website to contribute to a special e-book he was publishing entitled ‘What the World Cup means to me’. The e-book has just been released and you can download it in PDF format here. Its a great read and highly recommended.
Following on from my recent post regarding things you’d like banned from kits Denis emailed me recently mentioning that he had seen a note from UEFA saying that all strapping on socks must either be the same colour as the sock or worn underneath. It reminded me of a conversation I had when I visited Umbro a few months back. This may be common knowledge but apparently Ronaldo’s taping around his ankle/socks is due to the fact that he always prefers to wear his own special socks on his feet. These socks are also what he wears when his feet are measured for his custom boots. So in matches he actually wears the ‘feet’ of his own special socks, then puts on his standard issue team kit socks, cuts the ‘feet’ of them and tapes the two together. So in fact his team kit socks are actually just two ‘tubes’! I certainly wasn’t aware of this trend but it may explain why so many players are wearing taping on their socks.
Finally Loaded journalist Jeff Maysh recently asked me to contribute to his excellent football/football kit blog www.mudsweatbadges.co.uk. Jeff has done loads of writing on football and has an impressive collection of match worn Spurs shirts. His site is highly entertaining and well worth a visit!
Plus, don’t forget to cast your vote on www.greatestkitever.com!
New Website launch – Greatest Kit Ever
Posted by John Devlin
I’m delighted to announce the launch this week of www.greatestkitever.com – a companion site to True Colours in conjunction with the team behind the www.greatesteverplayer.com website.
Debate over which current or past kit is superior to another is rife and has been a hot topic on my site, www.greatestkitever.com, which at the moment focuses only on the English Premier League, now allows you to decide!
The process is simple, the site is filled with approximately 500 shirts carefully selected from every year and every team since the Premier League’s formation in 1992. A pair of random shirts is displayed and you simply click on the one you think is best, or in the centre if you can’t decide. The stats are continually being added up and at any time you can see which kit/shirt is the most popular.
Its really fun and a great way to see and compare shirts from the Premier League’s history…but a warning, its very addictive!
Click here to visit the site and start voting now!
FIFA’s Spring Summer 10 Collection
Posted by John Devlin
With the World Cup fast approaching I was interested to see that FIFA have launched a new range of sports/lifestyle clothing. FIFA have encompassed and used football’s visual ‘language’ across all the items in the range but they have avoided the trap of simply producing sportswear apparel that then has to compete with the big sports manufacturers.
Entitled the Spring Summer 10 Collection the range is divided into five sections:
1904 – a range of men’s apparel celebrating FIFA’s heritage with strong references to it’s inception in 1904. This collection has a relaxed fit and retro style and features graphics inspired by the origins of football and FIFA’s first headquarters in Paris. Items include jackets, blazers and cardigans.
Editions – celebrates past World Cup winners with contemporary sportswear styles and takes historic references from 1930 to 2006 with specific typography and graphics to illustrate the winning matches. The colours are taken from the seven key winning nations (Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay) and the range includes tracksuits, T-shirts and polo shirts.
Code – is an urban streetwear range that includes casual T-shirts, polo shirts and hoodies. The design is influenced by African street football with graphics inspired by African Bantu art.
Essentials – a simple and classic traditional range of T-shirts, polo shirts, jackets, bags, knits and headwear.
Event – focuses specifically on South African culture and heritage. The collection features graphics reminiscent of the 1990s and is available in a wide range of colours. The ‘Event’ range also includes many items for women as well as men.
To find out more visit: www.FIFA.com/fifacollections
South Africa Away Kit 2010-11
Posted by John Devlin
OK, never let it be said that I don’t back down when I’m wrong. I’ve just finished a complete set of World Cup 2010 kit illustrations and I have to admit that despite my initial reservations about them the adidas designs for the campaign are looking pretty fine. One of my particular favourites is the new away kit for the host nation, South Africa. Adidas are the master of the template. Unlike some companies, in the main, each adidas template is altered just enough for each team to give it a unique look and character.
One of adidas’ templates for the World Cup is sported by South Africa (along with Mexico) but thanks to an ingenious use of two swish shades of green, the particularly precise trim on the neck and a subtle watermark (a favourite of adidas at the moment it seems) of the South African flag on the shirts it ensures the hosts will look unique. These sorts of specific touches, designed purely for each country, was something Nike were very keen on a few years back and its interesting to see other countries also exploring this creative path.
The only mystery to me is why the country’s badge appears on the left breast rather than the right – if you know, please comment.
If you are interested in using my World Cup kit illustrations for any print or web project please contact me.
