In February 2005 Apropos was asked by the newly established European Marketing Department at Reebok to create a visual language for Football. Our brief was to create a series of graphic guidelines which positioned Rbk football as an urban lifestyle brand. Rbk would continue to produce Performance gear, with the addition of a Lifestyle collection.
The logo was evolved through a number of phases before arriving at the final designs. There are two versions: a Primary Signature for use in all communication and a Simplified Signature for use on product. Chevrons were taken as the key graphic theme. They reference the urban environment and are intrinsically associated with risk and danger.
Product Graphics -
Above: Football design using the Simplified Product Signature. Apropos- worked closely with product designer Roddy D’Arcy on the lifestyle product graphics. This consisted of application of brand elements to trims. Also decorative elements for use on jackets, hoodies and T-shirts. Some graphic elements were taken directly from the visual language. Others were created specifically for application to the lifestyle product collection.
Press Launch Venues -
M&C Saatchi commissioned Apropos to design the graphics for both Thierry Henry and Andriy Shevchenko press launches. Henry’s was held at The Vinyl Factory, a converted underground car park behind Phonica in London’s Soho. Shevchenko’s press launch took place on the Thames at Westminster Boating Base. Before final artwork, we produced a series of visuals to illustrate how graphics and lighting would impact each space. We also designed invites, product cards and a press pack folder.
Each launch is covered in greater detail within our Blog:
An Audience with Thierry Henry …
Andriy Shevchenko …
Advertising -
The advertising campaign was produced by Leagas Delaney. Photography by Perou. Typography, branding, photography and image processing were dictated by the visual language document created by Apropos. More detail of the campaign cane be seen at this link: Reebok Football Advertising 07/08 …
Point of Sale -
Merchandising apparatus and other point of sale material also received the visual language treatment. Apropos produced initial designs for in-store product display equipment. These were then applied to hanging racks, gondolas, banners, seating and shelving systems. We also designed a unique Reebok Football area, inside Footlocker’s Oxford Street store.
Website -
The web and viral campaign was produced by Skive. Apropos met with the developers at the commissioning stage and reviewed the designs during development for consistency with our visual language.
© Apropos 2009
Working with Gareth on this project was really rewarding. Not only did he gives us great creativity but it was in the context of a practical framework that could really work as ‘glue’ across the project and be expressed in multiple consumer touchpoints which significantly enhanced its impact in the marketplace. On top of that his unassuming style meant that he was a pleasure to work with as a client and critically also ensured he could inhabit the world of multi agency egos and produce a collaborative result.
Roy Gardner – VP Brand Marketing EMEA Reebok
We asked Apropos to develop a visual language that would allow us to connect all of our Reebok football activity throughout product and marketing communications regardless of channel and allow us to communicate in a distinct tone of voice whilst expressing our brand personality. The visual language that Apropos developed delivered this perfectly. It enabled us to bring to life our positioning of ‘More than just the 90 minutes’ by referencing typographic, graphic, colour and language trends emerging in the lifestyle arena and applied them to sport. This gave us a completely different look and feel from other major brands and enabled us to achieve greater cut through with consumers. The visual language also connected communication to product by supplying a product style guide that featured similar attributes such as logo styles, fonts and colour references. This meant that the attitude that we communicated via advertising and digital was translated in some way onto product enabling consumers to make a clearer connection between the brand they saw/heard and ultimately wore. All in all a great job.
John Zaheer-Flaherty – European Marketing Director for Lifestyle at Reebok
The visual language that Gareth created was the inspiration behind the design of the product range – It was the starting point, the catalyst, and in the end it was what made the product relevant to it’s target consumer. Apropos ability to break down the brief into the raw elements of design provided me with ‘ingredients’ necessary to build the product range. It was fun too.
Roddy D’Arcy – Freelance Product Designer