Fresh From The Field — Sports devout lettering craftsmanship by Allan Kwok
This Fresh From The Field features some awesome lettering which fuses contemporary and victorian typographic cues from London based Kiwi designer Allan Kwok, who wanted to show support for our sports teams.
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The Brief:
The last couple of months in the UK have been buzzing with the Cricket and Netball world cups being hosted there. One cannot help but be immersed in the games with live coverage on in the background while you’re working. Allan is a proud kiwi and supporter of any New Zealand sports team, who couldn’t be happier in London. The British love their cricket so when NZ played England in the final, the banter was high with bragging rights on the line.
The final was like no other, high drama to the nth degree. With the game ending in a draw! And England winning on the basis of a count back of more boundaries scored. This was heartbreaking, for Allan who notes “a little bit of me died that day. But on reflection, it was a massive achievement for the kiwis to even get to the final. One could not help but feel immensely proud and inspired by the Black Caps.”
To deal with the pain, he turned to the sketch book as an outlet to express his thoughts. The aim was to show my respect and gratitude to the boys who played with great courage, fairness and humility. Not just to the team of today but also the players that have gone before them.
Design response:
The result was a typographic exploration of combining Victorian 19th Century type with modern-day sans serifs to represent the past and present of NZ Black Caps cricket. A Victorian typeface was used to create a highly decorative Black Caps word mark to convey heritage and tradition. To push the boundaries (pun intended) the final design came to rest on the blade of a vintage cricket bat. This Black Caps branded bat is covered with messages of admiration and respect with a touch of Kiwiana.
Following on from the cricket was the Netball World Cup final and NZ were in the mix again, with The Silver Ferns vs Aussie. Another closely fought game with only 1 point separating the difference between gold and silver.
It was a remarkable feat by the Silver Ferns to take it out and win the Netball World Cup. As a tribute to these amazing woman a special vintage leather netball was designed with gold foiled type, along with a bespoke netball court blazoned with the “Silver ferns” and gold court markings in a decorative Victorian style.
While reflecting on the outcomes Allan writes “this project made me realise how amazing little old NZ is, when it comes to competing on the world stage. I can’t wait for the Rugby World Cup! Proud to be a kiwi.”
