Following on from our unveiling of the World Champions Collection, today we can look a little bit closer at the designs from one of our South American champions, Uruguay. Here’s a quick look behind the scenes at Zaira Nara modelling the Uruguay shirt:

The new crest on the Uruguayan shirt in the World Champions Collection was designed by Martin Albornoz, a mixed media designer from Montevideo, who also goes by the name of Bruster. Using photography, sculpture, painting and graphics, Martin works as part of a global collective of artists. We recently spoke to him about his work and his design.

How would you describe your work?

‘My work is mostly a mix of techniques, analogue and digital, with elements placed in a “messy-tidy” way, trying to get a balance between art and design.’

Who or what inspired you to become an artist?
‘I’m inspired by non-conformity and self-criticism.

Has Uruguay inspired your work in the past?

‘Yes, i have done work related to the theme of Uruguay for design and tourism books, exhibitions, motion… but never about football. This is a really new inspiration for me, and a very motivating one.’

What made you want to get involved in this collaboration with Umbro?

‘It was a very interesting proposition, it was a worldwide work and i was representing my country, it was related to football and was organized by Umbro! It was perfect!!!!
I feel proud just to be invited to participate in this project.’

What do you think of the existing crest used by your national team?

‘The current national crest is one of those things that you grow up with and you learn to live with it. It’s correct, elegant, simple… a classic. If it was a person, it would be a strong player, with great personality, from the 70s. I like it because it is part of my life but in terms of design I think it needs a restyle.’

How did you approach the idea of redesigning the Uruguayan crest?

‘The idea for the design of the crest comes from the most important achievement of Uruguayan football: El Maracanazo. Uruguay won the 1950 tournament in Brazil, beating Brazil 2-1 in the final, with 170,000 attendants in the Maracana Stadium. That’s why we call it Maracanazo.’

How did you decide what elements to include?

‘The main element is the typography, hand-made, authentic, with a mix of forms and sizes, with imperfections, just like Uruguay. The rest are elements that define that instant, some of them are conceptuals, the others purely graphic.’

The results look fun, was it an enjoyable experience?

‘Yes, it was very enjoyable. It was a process of at least 20 crests to finally come to this one. The finalists were two: el maracanazo and one with the image of Obdulio Varela, captain of the the national team in 1950 (below).

If you had to name your crest, what would you call it?

‘I would call it “the last game Brasil played with a white shirt” or “the fireworks that never exploded” or “silence in Brasil” hahahaa!’

Were you a football fan before you decided to do this?

‘Yes, i love football.’

What role do you think the crest can play for players and fans?

‘The crest is like the cross for the church, it’s a symbol that you belong to, a feeling represented in an image that is trying to tell us something.’

How do you think Uruguay will fare in this summer’s tournament?

‘We have very good players but they don’t play well as a team. Anyway, we are gonna be champions!’

Thanks to Martin for answering our questions, and for giving us a glimpse at his alternative designs – if you want to see more of them, or the rest of the World Champions Collection, check out our Flickr stream. Tomorrow, we’ll be checking out another South American artist as we head to Brazil…