Sometimes the thought of Coalition government cuts in the UK make me more nervous than the recent recession.
Obviously, common sense cut backs are necessary to avoid the UK lurching further into economic meltdown. But to make more cuts to the Arts sector would be a mistake, given its vast contribution to the economy. The importance of the Arts has been illustrated here by this superb animation by David Shrigley - funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. You quickly get the idea.
Here's a project to disturb the hornet's nest of graphic design commentary.
Peter Saville, purveyor of arty design (and creator of Studio's favourite LP sleeve, ever) has been commissioned by Umbro to design the new England football shirt. And it ticks all the classic Saville hallmarks – understated cool, colour-coded and divisive. I know little about football, but I do know that genuine fans care to an almost religious level. So this design project will cause quite a reaction.
I like it, but then I would. The shoulders of the garment are decorated in multi-coloured crosses of St George – which on a white shirt, are hard to spot from a distance. Apparently it was St Peter's original intention to cover the entire shirt, instead this will be a limited edition. Following his classic colour-coded typo for New Order's 'Power, Corruption and Lies', I wonder what these array of crosses spell out?
It's interesting to see such an iconic designer operating in an unexpected sector of design. But it's not the first time, as he previously designed New Order's World Cup single in 1990. Hopefully it will signal a change of fortunes for the England football team, as indicated by the recent success in its match against Bulgaria where players wore the shirt for the first time.
Here's Umbro's promo film:
And a link to Peter's recent interview on designing for such a 'potent symbol'. The comments section gives you an idea of the strong reaction. It reminds me of when pop stars such as Morrissey or Ian Brown have worn a football shirt in concert - a contingent of adoring fans suddenly scream for their blood.
