Hero image above designed by Christoph Koeberling.
In so many ways, we are squarely in the golden age of soccer jersey design. With every major tournament and new season, football fans, fashionistas, and football fan fashionistas eagerly welcome a new crop of kits into our cultural consciousness, dropping large chunks of change to rock the latest looks. From eye-catching shirts with a feminine flair, to awareness campaigns using jersey design to shed light on bigger societal issues, football kits have become an exciting and innovative site for design, fashion, and fandom. Alas, there is still one major aspect of jersey design that hasn’t progressed at the same speed as the rest: typography.
While logos, crests, and sponsors emblazon the front of jerseys, players’ numbers and last names are featured on the back. But all too often the type used on the backs of jerseys lacks legibility and the same level of thought and care incorporated into other aspects of the jersey’s design. Sports type designer and expert on the subject, Christoph Koeberling, has fixated on this design deficiency, spending much of his career creating effective sports typography to fill the gap.
Koeberling launched his website Sportsfonts almost a decade ago as part of his mission to bring better type options to sports jerseys, and raise awareness around this prevalent issue. With the 2024 European Championships currently underway in Germany, the Copa America playing out in the US, and the Olympics nearly upon us in Paris, the sea of soccer kits is overflowing, with examples of good and bad typography abound. I reached out to Koeberling to take a deeper dive into this world he’s immersed himself in, and unpack some of the best and worst type on display in the major tournaments this summer.
Why do you think illegible and poorly designed type is so prevalent across football kits?
There are several reasons for this. At the major tournaments, we can currently observe that people still underestimate how much a characteristic font can contribute to the overall aesthetic impression and the recognizability of a team.
And even when this is taken into account, the focus is usually on style, often to the detriment of legibility. In addition, it is rarely type designers who create the typefaces, which means there is a lack of a professional eye.
It’s like Ferrari putting ugly stickers all over the car at the very end.
When did you first start noticing this consistent issue, and then begin calling it out and addressing it in your own design work?
Even as a child, I had a thing for both football and type. At some point, I realized that something was going wrong where the two came together. A lot of things are subjective; you either like it or you don’t. But sometimes you realize that something is wrong, and you can’t really put your finger on it. That’s why I founded Sportsfonts in 2016— to show what makes good and bad fonts, but also to offer professional sports fonts myself.
Why is speaking out about poorly designed football kit type important to you as a designer?
It’s simply incomprehensible why everything in this business is becoming more professional, except for one thing. Jerseys have long been fashion items, presented by models in front of historical backdrops. No detail is left to chance, everything is perfect. And then, after the shoot, there’s the cheap, bad typeface applied to it, which you can no longer read, especially when the player moves (which is supposed to happen!).
It’s like Ferrari putting ugly stickers all over the car at the very end.
Can you point to an example of some of the worst type you’ve ever seen on a football jersey?
A current example is the new font on Manchester City’s shirts. Noel Gallagher “designed” it, and I understand the marketing idea behind it. But even if you come up with the idea of putting ugly handwriting (mine wouldn’t be any better, by the way) on the shirts, you can do it well. There are people out there who are capable of making something professional-looking even out of this concept.
Can you point to an example of successful type on a football jersey?
I like it when the font fulfills three criteria: it should be unique, easy to read, and fit the team. Staying with national teams, I’m still a fan of Paul Barnes’s typeface for Puma at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
What’s your favorite kit on display at the European Championships right now? How about the Copa America?
Germany’s numerals are my clear favorites. Not because they are so good, but because with the shit storm over their SS look-a-like “4,” they have illustrated the importance of good type design better than I ever could. Otherwise, we see a mixture of retro and lack of inspiration at the EURO. It’s the same basic typeface for both Nike and Puma (for almost all of their teams), and the same retro 3D effect across kit suppliers for half of the participants.
One nice observation: The Netherlands have rediscovered their typeface by Wim Crouwel from 2014, and it still works great.
The Netherlands jersey typeface by Wim Crouwel
The generic 3D type Nike designed for many of teams participating in the EURO; England pictured here.
The comparison with the Copa is interesting: nothing of the omnipresent 3D retro on display in the EURO to be seen! Adidas has sent everyone into the race with their standard typeface, and Nike have supplied their teams with custom designs ranging from classic (USA) to ugly (Brazil) to refreshing (Uruguay).
Uruguay’s Copa America kit
USA’s Copa America kit
Brazil’s Copa America kit