The hardest part for the pair was turning these somewhat accidental marks into something that actually reads as an alphabet. \u201cThe process was messy in the best way,\u201d shares Cristian. \u201cWe\u2019d bring those images into Illustrator and challenge ourselves to shape each unique scuff into part of a letterset.\u201d There was, inevitably, a lot of trial and error in this technique and a lot of the slide tackle shapes got benched in the final line-up, with swaps for more legible A\u2019s or more dynamic C\u2019s. \u201cWe wanted the final set to keep that sense of energy and randomness you get from real tackles \u2013 not something too polished,\u201d says Christian.<\/p>\n
Since the development of a full letterset with all the final tweaks, and a fully fledged campaign for the typeface inside the game \u2013 with wiggly words printed across team kits and merch \u2013 the pair have released the project as a completely open source font, with football fans and designers alike from around the world snapping it up for their projects. \u201cIt never gets old seeing something you made pop up somewhere unexpected\u201d, the Cristian shares, \u201ceach share feels like a tiny win.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Columbia and Mexico-based design duo have been in advertising for over a decade, \u201calways learning, always curious, and still a bit amazed every time someone recognises our work\u201d, Cristian says. For them, it\u2019s important that personal projects that happen on the side like these remain free and accessible to all \u201cbecause, let\u2019s face it, the best things in life usually are\u201d, says Christian. \u201cWe just wanted people to download it instantly, no hoops. We believe that creative growth comes from sharing, not gatekeeping. Good things tend to find their way back to you when you put them out there with no strings attached,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n
When speaking to what the pair will get up to next, Christian ends: \u201cWe\u2019ll probably still be playing FC (and still getting red cards), and we\u2019re always daydreaming about weird new side projects. We don\u2019t have a big master plan, we just the hope that if we keep having fun, good things will keep coming.\u201d<\/p>\n