This New Balance footwear project centers on the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, exploring the tournament's history and the 24 participating nations. The designs will reflect each country, drawing inspiration from the top-of-the-range New Balance football boots. Originally scheduled for 2023, the Cup faced delays due to weather concerns.
The portfolio delves into AFCON's history, including past hosts, top scorers, and titleholders. The group stage, starting on January 13, 2024, involves 24 African nations. The top two from each group advance directly to the knockout stage, while the best four third-placed teams face tougher opponents in the round of 16.
To inspire concepts, the project examines design teams' choices for the 24 qualified nations' kits, spanning from Tunisia to South Africa. Cultural symbolism in recent uniforms guides the incorporation of iconic patterns into sports footwear.
Exploring modern technologies in New Balance football boots, the project analyzes silhouettes and upper componentry styles, creating unique conceptual football boots.
Crucially, public voting, following AFCON's group stage and seed system, determines the final design. The journey involves diverse voters selecting attractive designs to advance through the rounds, with the top-voted concept receiving a full render and storyboard for the final.
The 2023 edition marks its 34th year, with many African nations winning the "Trophy of African Unity" since 1957. Egypt leads with seven titles, followed by Cameroon (5), Ghana (4), and Nigeria (3). Ivory Coast, Algeria, and DR Congo have two titles each, while several nations have one. Notable goal scorers include Samuel Eto'o, Laurent Pokou, Rasheed Yekini, Hassan El-Shazly, and Didier Drogba.
Out of 54 African nations, 24 qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations group stage. AFCON 2023 features a diverse mix of football powerhouses like Nigeria, Egypt, and Cameroon, alongside emerging talents from Cape Verde, Guinea, and Mauritania. Each nation brings a unique story, with some having a rich history of championships, while others aim to make a mark on the continental stage.
The group stage draws set the stage for intense rivalries and thrilling matchups, as traditional powerhouses clash with underdogs, creating an unpredictable and exciting tournament. Passionate fan bases from across the continent will converge, painting stadiums in vibrant colors. AFCON showcases the best football talent from established superstars in European leagues to local talents, making it a platform for leaving a lasting mark on Africa's footballing history.
New Balance Football Boots
Having a look into the top-of-the-range New Balance football boots, we are shown the innovative technologies that go into making some of the best sports footwear on the market.
The 442 v2 is tailor-made for modern athletes with classic sophistication. This New Balance model takes a premium and traditional approach, crafted with a soft kangaroo leather upper, durable nylon sole plate, and lace-up closure.
The Tekela v4 exceeds expectations with sleek upper designs, next-level comfort, and all while weighing only 202.6 grams.
The Furon v7 is known for its lightweight knit upper that delivers superior comfort and breathability. With a wrap-around NB logo, off-set lacing, and increased strike zone, this model is as dynamic as they come.
The Sketch Process
With inspiration gathered, it's finally time to put pen to tablet. While the traditional method of pencil and paper tends to be a great go-to for rapid sketching, the ease of digital sketching with a Wacom tablet hooked up to a laptop makes the process of developing sketches much more efficient.
Designers understand that you're not going to produce a worthwhile piece from one singular sketch so it's important to generate a large collection of quick designs that you can ultimately filter down to a select few.
Taking inspiration from the current New Balance football boot designs and some iconic silhouettes from the past decades, the sketching stage introduced a total of 48 unique choices.
Unfortunately, the project can't continue with 48 entirely unique silhouettes so the following step refines the list to only the top 10 sketches that carry the greatest potential of becoming a commerciable footwear design. The strongest design is ultimately decided by its versatility of creatively representing the competing nations of this year's AFCON tournament.
The Final Silhouette
The 'New Balance 442 v3' embraces a timeless silhouette while incorporating contemporary advancements in componentry and a fresh sense of dynamism. Boasting remarkable versatility in its array of color options, this silhouette serves as the ideal representation for numerous nations participating in the AFCON tournament. With intricate componentry layering at the toe and heel, 360° branding, multiple stitch rows, plastic eyelets, and a sturdy sole plate, this design allows for enhanced adaptability to distinctive color combinations, outshining the other nine contenders with ease.
Throughout the sketch development process, this design demonstrated its superiority in creatively embodying nations with diverse flag colors, including (A) the Ivory Coast, (B) Cape Verde, (C) Algeria, (D) DR Congo, and (E) South Africa. Whether opting for a bold and direct approach with vibrant colors, as exemplified in B, or adopting a more universal and core theme, as showcased in D or E, this silhouette proves its ability to effortlessly align with the unique essence of each AFCON-participating nation
The 24 Representations
Focusing on incorporating different colouring techniques such as colour blocking, and also implementing different base colours for these 24 different styles, each group has very unique versions of the 442 v3. As previously carried out, it was once again time to eliminate some choices. Now the final silhouette has been decided, the public will vote which one of these versions is their favourite, in the same system implemented in the official AFCON tournament.
Public Voting
Nigeria: The Winner
Looking back on the five main voting stages, the Nigeria colourway dominated throughout. From the very beginning, it topped Group A and then went on to comfortably eliminate Guinea in the Round of 16.
The Quarter Finals had South Africa facing Tanzania, Namibia against Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania with Mali, and Cape Verde against Nigeria but this round of voting had eliminated half of the participating designs, leaving only the four of the best designs to progress into the Semi Finals.
With Namibia and Mali being eliminated, the final had Nigeria face South Africa but it was no contest. An easy victory for the Super Eagles meant the design was ready to be rendered and receive its own storyboard.
Marketing
With marketing being a huge reason in deciding whether a product is successful, this design project also experiments with some common forms of advertising such as billboards, print magazines, and digital content.
Imagining where New Balance would likely promote a product similar to this concept, the following advertisements take into account the wide target audience and opt for urban scenes such as local playing grounds, recreational areas, and so on.
For those keen on physical content, a general sports or football magazine is a likely purchase for the respective individuals in New Balance's target audience.
Luxurious packaging can make a product, especially footwear, a whole lot more desirable. In this instance, the shoebox for the 442 v3 Pro FG 'Nigeria' possesses a minimalist nature with an illustration of the product, the national team's emblem, and New Balance branding on the lid and sides.
If you would like to view the project in full, head over here!
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Do you agree that Nigeria deserved to come out on top?