Football: Designing the Beautiful Game

by Eleanor Watson (Editor), James Bird (Editor), Justin McGuirk (Interviewer)

The design story of soccer, from stadium planning to team badges Soccer is unquestionably the world’s most popular sport, with a dedicated fan base and truly international reach. It is also a significant industry, with European soccer alone being estimated to hold a value of $30 billion in 2016. How did soccer evolve to be such a significant part of our cultural landscape, and what role has design played in shaping the sport?
This catalog―the first of its kind―explores the design story behind soccer, unpicking how design has been used to push the game to its technical and emotional limits. From the master-planning of the world’s most significant stadiums to the innovative materials used in today’s boots, the graphic design of team badges and the grassroots initiatives pushing back against the sport’s commercialization, this book provides a rare insight into the people and processes that have made soccer what it is today.
Accompanying the Design Museum exhibition of the same name, this book features informed and sometimes provocative contributions from figures across the world of football and design, from analyst Statman Dave and broadcaster Martin Tyler to architect Jacques Herzog and Adidas vice president Sam Handy.

304 pages, Hardcover

Published August 23, 2022

Reviews

[Romysh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I followed football since I was a wee lad, and I always got excited by a football book. They, however, tend to get a little underwhelming. There are plenty of books with interesting facts and pictures, but essentially, they're all the same encyclopaedia kinda type flavourless fact induced googlable collection.

But not this one! This book tells a story. Quite a few stories about the 'beautiful game'. From the moment I picked this up, I just knew I was in for a treat. Absolutely beautiful pictures of different aspects of the game. Different perspectives and different takes on something you thought you knew everything about. Talking about women's football, disability teams, LGBT in the sport, or grassroots football. This book covers it all and in the most beautiful fashion!

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone, not just a football fanatic, but everyone with a keen eye. Because design in football is hiding in plain sight literally everywhere!

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

a quick read for uni! it's really comprehensive, like the exhibition itself, and the essays feel like they truly add to the content rather than just endless history for padding and justification of the price (i got this from my uni library, thankfully). i was almost guaranteed to enjoy this because of the intersection of 2 of my favourite things and how much i enjoyed the exhibition itself, but i was pleasantly surprised at how it went above and beyond what i was expecting from such a book.