Football: Designing the Beautiful Game

Strangely compelling exhibition at the Design Museum on design in football.

I’m not a football fan but as the commentary says the game does shape how many people organise their time, dress and relate to communities.

The opening section became a history of the game via developments in design of basic events like balls and boots. There were some significant objects to demonstrate this eg two balls from the first FIFA world cup final where each team provided a ball for half the game to ensure fairness before balls were standardised. It also looked at developments in player health and different game formations.

This was followed by a section on Identity looking at how kits developed and the fan culture which included a colourful display of kits and a fan made Hillsbough banner.  Next came stadiums and crowd behaviour looking at things like how chants make a crowd breath and move together. Sadly it also had to look at disasters.

It moved on to spectacles including the development of competitions and the branding around them and the show finished by a look at play including card collecting, table top games and video games.

The exhibition was full of useful facts for quizzes but also made you look at the sport in different and interesting ways.

Closes 29 August 2022

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