Palette of Pride: AFCON 2023
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Graphic Design
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
The TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations 2023 (AFCON 2023) visuals showcased a dynamic fusion of Africa’s cultural vibrancy and football fervor.
AFCON 2023 visual content weaved together the rich tapestry of African cultures, cultural nuances, and the exciting football narrative to create an engaging storytelling medium for fans.
Beyond aesthetic appeal, these designs are a narrative thread that connect fans to the heart of Africa, celebrating African culture, fashion, music and pride within the game that unites everyone.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
By prioritizing cultural resonance and celebration, this work inspired us as creators to move beyond conventional sports design and encourage storytelling through visual design.
Ultimately, we put African culture and football fans at the forefront of our creative thinking, to create pieces that connect them with AFCON 2023 through visually compelling narratives.
With the smallest details and elements, from shades and shapes to cultural nuances, we can create a visual narrative that leaves an indelible impression on our audience.
Objective
Our mission was to craft visuals that transcended conventional design and resonated with fans. The goal can be summarized within: intersecting the football of AFCON 2023 with African cultures to celebrate the pulsating spirit of the tournament and the continent This project stood as a powerful testament to our commitment to elevating sport aesthetics, using visuals to tell compelling stories, and leaving an indelible mark on the intersection of sports, culture, and visual innovation.
Strategy & Execution
Our design strategy for AFCON 2023 was meticulously crafted with the modern sports fan at the forefront.
- Last Supper: Featured on Bleacher Report Football, this piece was created within 300+ hours of work, all done by one designer. This Last Supper inspired tableau featured 24 stars from AFCON 2023 as the last piece to go out on CAF Online platforms pre tournament.
- Reactive Visuals: A series of 10+ visuals capturing the smallest details and cultural nuances in real-time, from the Golden Ratio to the Greek Zeus.
- 3D Design: Incorporating immersive 3D designs in our pre-AFCON campaign in a video for the top performing continental teams garnered 12.3 MILLION views.
- Illustration: Illustration videos brought the tournament to life with videos pre-AFCON, receiving 700K+ views across platforms.
- Celebration of African Pride: A set of culturally driven visuals that celebrated the AFCON 2023’s core: Pride of Africa.
- Music Battle: From the semi-finals and onwards, all visual content saw a compelling shift with all designs being inspired by the hottest and bigges album covers, record players, remixes and more.
- Champions Photoshoot: Combining authentic and vintage African tools with new media forms, the champions photoshoot was a cultural celebration of Africa as a whole.
Organizations
- ARQAM
- Confederation of African Football
Links
Credits
Ahmed Rayhan
Lead Graphic Design
ARQAM
Adham Sameh
Senior Graphic Designer
ARQAM
Mina Atef
Senior Graphic Designer
ARQAM
Omar Rayan
Midlevel Graphic Designer
ARQAM
Amr Mohamed
Midlevel Graphic Design
ARQAM
Yousef Magdy
Midlevel Graphic Design
ARQAM
Ahmed Shawki
Midlevel Graphic Design
ARQAM
Abdelrahman Sameh
Junior Graphic Designer
ARQAM
Ahmed Hassay
Junior Graphic Design
ARQAM
Arena13 Studio Mohsen Rashad
Arena13Design
Daniel Astudillo
Illustrator
Freelance
Matic Marin
Graphic Designer
Freelancer
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
