Do you care about soccer? If the answer is “yes,” then good for you, carry on, beautiful game, etc., etc.
If the answer is “no,” you might be interested to learn that San Francisco’s City Football Club isn’t above trying to win you over by utilizing Excellent Graphic Design.
On Tuesday, SFCFC announced a partnership with Hollis Callas, the San Francisco artist and designer who cites the natural world as her primary inspiration. For those familiar with her work, it should come as little surprise that Callas’ jersey for the club features a wild parrot. The birds were, after all, included in Callas’ design for those vibrant, floral “I Voted” stickers. (Lest we forget that the parrots were also, somewhat controversially, voted San Francisco’s official animal in 2023.)
Callas’ design hit Instagram on Tuesday morning, posted to both her page and SFCFC’s.
SFCFC was founded in 2001, and is community-driven, both literally and figuratively — the club is 51% fan-owned. The team also leans hard into the motto seen on San Francisco’s flag since 1940: “Oro en Paz y Fierro en Guerra” — or “Gold in Peace, Iron in War.” (Variations on the phrase are already all over so much of the club’s increasingly desirable merch.)
Last month, the club collaborated with Church Barber and Apothecary on this limited edition jersey:
Before that, the club embraced the logo of its sponsor, Muni, featuring its iconic wiggle on several team jerseys.
In many ways, SFCFC doesn’t even seem to care if you pay them any soccer-related attention or not. Its official crest features the Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Building, Sutro Tower — and nothing soccer-related whatsoever. In fact, its merch tells us over and over again that loving San Francisco is enough.
Why else would a soccer club have given us this Karl the Fog design?
Or this nod to beloved local hero Robin Williams?
And, oh yes, here’s Sutro Tower again, though this one actually has a soccer ball on it, so… the beautiful game does have to come up now and again, I guess:
Whichever design San Francisco City comes up with next, it would be cool to see the club collaborate with more local artists like Callas down the road. A Jeremy Fish sea lion/bear/bison? Just something to keep in mind, soccer people.
[March 25, 2024 Update: The Hollis Callas parrot kit is available to pre-order now.]
