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The poster for the Russia 2018 World Cup has been unveiled. The tournament will hold from June 14 to July 15, 2018. Final draw will be held in Moscow on Friday.
Check out the poster below.
The poster which features Lev Yashin, the Ballon d’Or Soviet goalkeeper, was designed by Russian artist Igor Gurovich.
“The Official Poster of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is a true reflection of Russia’s artistic and football heritage,” commented FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura. “We are very proud of this beautiful landmark asset that portrays such an important icon and celebrates the coming tournament on Russian soil.”
Why Lev Yashin
“It was very important for us to portray Russia as the Host Country in the Official Poster,” said the Chairman of the Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee Vitaly Mutko. “That’s why we chose Lev Yashin, a symbol of Russian football, as the main figure.
According to a statement by FIFA, Yashin played in four FIFA World Cups – 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970 – and remains the only goalkeeper in the history of football to win the Ballon d’Or.
In the poster, he is dressed in his traditional outfit of black shirt and shorts, knee brace and his famous cap. He is shown reaching for the ball, one half of which is a typical football from Yashin’s era, with the other depicting the vast landmass of Russia as seen from space, reflecting a key inspiration of the 2018 FIFA World Cup brand, that of Russia’s achievements in space exploration.
Designer’s inspiration
The statement said the poster’s designer, Gurovich was inspired by the Russian movement of Constructivism from the late 1920s, in particular the posters designed by Dziga Vertov and the Stenberg brothers.
The rays of light emanating from the ball, a common feature of Constructivist work, symbolises the tournament’s energy, while the circle of green represents the pitches of 12 stadiums in 11 Host Cities that will stage the 64 matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
“The style of Soviet post-Constructivist posters from the 1920s and 1930s, their unique visual language, a new, fresh poetry of figurative images, became one of the most important and revered elements of Russian culture,” said Gurovich. “This language is unquestionably thought of as Russian throughout the world. Therefore, in my work on the poster, I really wanted to make this language modern and relevant once again.”
Who is Igor Gurovich
Gurovich was born in 1967. A member of the Russian Academy of Graphic Design, he also teaches at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and jointly founded the Ostengruppe design lab.
He has worked on various projects throughout his career, including the uniform for the Russia team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the branding of the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament (1997-1999) and the rebranding of the Moscow International Film Festival.
He received the grand prize from the Moscow International Advertising Festival in 1994 and the All-Russian Design Contest in 2000.
He also won the top award at the Moscow Global Biennale of Graphic Design Golden Bee in 2012 and the AGI prize at the Chaumont Biennale of Graphic Design in 2013.
FIFA World Cup posters since 1930
FIFA World Cup Posters have long been considered a genuine work of art that draw interest from dealers, collectors of football memorabilia, members of the artistic community and football fans all over the world.
Below is a collection of the posters for the previous World Cups.