Developing the World Cup Campaign for the U.S. Men’s National Team
Client: U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team
Creative Strategy / Visual Identity (In partnership with ICNCLST)
The "Only Forward" campaign for the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team was developed with the core goal of repositioning American soccer on the global stage, reigniting fan passion after the team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Our mission was to inspire belief, reconnect with fans, and demonstrate the team's growth, talent, and relentless pursuit of success—capturing America’s spirit through a modern, bold, youthful, and timeless lens.
CHALLENGE
The challenge was to balance the past and present, reflecting on the setbacks while emphasizing the team's forward momentum. We needed to create a campaign that resonated with a globally-minded, youthful, and diverse audience, ensuring that it captured the energy, resilience, and ambition of U.S. Soccer's journey.
SOLUTION
The
RESULTS
The "Only Forward" campaign succeeded in reigniting belief in the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team by capturing the team’s youthful swagger and relentless drive. We transformed the setbacks of the past into a rallying cry for the future, creating an emotional narrative that resonated with fans and redefined how the world views American soccer. It successfully repositioned U.S. Soccer globally, with "Only Forward" capturing the team's grit and belief in their potential to win on the world stage. Additionally, the development of a unified brand identity—through consistent typography, motion, and photography—strengthened brand recognition, even in crowded digital spaces.
Manifesto
The "Only Forward" manifesto became the heartbeat of the campaign, reinforcing the players' grit and determination, while resonating with fans who supported their journey from setbacks to future success. This core message embodied resilience, confidence, and the belief that this team was destined for greatness.
If you want to win in this era,
It takes more than a couple stars to earn your stripes.
And if you want to win on this stage,
You have to kill your egos before you can kill giants.
Which is why this team is built different.
So when other teams see a pitch, We see a proving ground.
A place to show the world, that there’s a world of difference,
Between what they think we can do, and what we know we can.
One nation, under the radar, over the wait, and about that work.
But if you really want to shake things up and shock the world,
It takes more than long mornings. It takes a short memory.
A brilliant resilience.
Because champions aren’t defined by what happened to them;
Four years, four matches or four minutes ago…
They’re measured by how they respond in the moments after.
With the ball at their feet, and a chip on their shoulder.
Head down. Eyes up - on the prize, not the past.
Ready to ball and be a problem.
Physically unforgiving. Mentally unrelenting.
Pushing opponents onto their heels.
America the Beautiful imposing their will on the Beautiful Game.
11 players with 11 different pasts,
Playing in the present with one pulse,
And with only one direction to go...
Only Forward.
Only Forward Wordmark
An expressive customized typeface for ‘forward’ with a subtly integrated arrow motif into the ‘D’.
This mark marries the old and new, with a heavy emphasis on the latter and forward movement.
Drawing inspiration from music, entertainment, fashion, and lifestyle, we developed a design aesthetic that pushed beyond traditional sports marketing.
Our visual center was modern and youthful, using a world tour theme to frame matches as “tour stops”—mirroring iconography from global culture to position the team not just as soccer players but as cultural leaders.
» LEARN MORE | What Makes Atlanta Special / New Logos and Lockups
Atlanta is more than a city the Falcons play in. It is of unique culture, personality and stories. It is a badge of pride, and now it is sewn into our fabric.
In this AtlantaFalcons.com feature we spoke with Atlanta influencers including Deon Sanders, Ludacris and Mayor Bottoms to understand what makes Atlanta special.
The NFL’s First Gradient Jersey
We understood that to conect with the neext generation of Falcons fans we needed to design something the NFL has never done before.
We did that with this jersey.
Additional color combinations that can be achieved by combining different pants and jersey colors.
Jersey sales drove $1.6M in six days, making it the biggest online sales day in team history.
Sports Business Journal Article
Brand Identity
Connecting to the Next Generation of Falcons Fans
On a parallel path to the uniform design, I orchestrated the Falcons in-house teams to redefine the Brand DNA and Design Language.
Brand Positioning
We repositioned the team as the brand representing the pride of Atlanta.
An early ideation session with key members of the Falcons in-house design team
Through cross-functional collaboration with the Brand and Communications groups, I authored a new Brand Identity Playbook including updated vision, mission, messaging, voice, and tone .
> VIEW | Sample Brand Playbook Pages
Table of Contents
Brand Messaging
Falcons Manifesto
Partner Lockups
Photography Pillars
Brand Voice + Tone
Brand Vision
Our Purpose
Visual Identity Reference Guide
The Stoop Graphic
Design Language
The evolved design language is grounded in the uniform design, staying true to the elements that anchor the team to the city.
Modern. Bold. Focused. Youthful.
» LEARN MORE | About the Design Language Graphic Elements
Anatomy of a core brand asset as defined in Brand Playbook
A precise, common ‘language’ is applied, enabling those ways in which the brand will be consistently executed across all media and platforms.
Black as base color
Red to call attention to areas of importance and primary messaging
“Larger than life.” subjects remain unobstructed and compositions uncluttered
Compositions that highlight the ATL on the chest or helmet
All creative must be qualified by a primary logo if it is not visible on the helmet or jersey in photography.
New Logos + Marks
Color Story
Our brand colors are an essential part of the Falcons visual identity. Together with our logo, our colors are the signature identifying feature of our brand.
Graphic Elements
In addition to the team logos, we have identified a key set of visual triggers within our design language to evoke a sense of familiarity through a direct connection to the team’s new on-field look.
Rise Up Gradient Pattern: Represents a city on the rise. Used to amplify gradient themed games and retail items.
Stoop Graphic:
Represents speed, precision and aggression
Throwback Stripes:
A direct link to the uniforms from our past. Used to reference throwback games and historic content.
Type Designed to Compliment the Team’s Uniforms and Graphic Elements.
Working with NFL art directors and type designers we evolved the team’s official brand font to set the foundation for a new new collection of official team logos.
We created symmetry between the official brand font and the jersey numeral system.
> LEARN MORE | About the New Brand Typography
“Wingtip” A Modern Brand Font
The Falcons had equity in their current brand font, but it had become dated and limiting by its lack of versatility. Our approach was to maintain the identifiable attributes of the current font, while strengthening letterforms.
New brand font “Wingtip” core letter forms
Evolved Logotype
Tighter letter spacing, bolder and sharper letterforms and aeronautic notches in the counter spaces provide a more versatile and aggressive logo type
Jersey Numerals
A tight radius at the corners, sharp talon-like terminals, and a refined drop shadow resulting in a clean and legible system that reflects the city's modern architecture.
Bringing it all to life.
With a clear vision for the new brand identity, I worked with the internal stakeholders to develop a robust two day content capture plan to fuel the media release.
Heroic. Dynamic.
Authentic. Immersive.
Imagery that Tells the Right Story.
Ask me about how we defined new Image Pillars to provide a consistent and identifiable style.
More than 150 editorial and broadcast placements were secured for a total of 1.3 billion media impressions.
Media highlights included Associated Press, ESPN, CBS Atlanta, Fox 5 Atlanta, CBS Sports, New York Times, and USA Today accounting for over $16M in ad impressions.
ESPN.com
Launching
the New Identity
On Wednesday, April 8th, we unveiled the new visual identity and the first comprehensive redesign of the team’s uniforms in 17 years.
Tease Content
The “stoop” graphic is revealed for the first time in a letter from team owner Arthur Blank announcing the uniform release date to Season Ticket Members.
Uniform tease videos were released to build anticipation and excitement throughout the week leading up to the reveal.
Record-setting digital audience consumption and engagement numbers
“The Falcons generated some of the highest traffic numbers we've seen for their club web and mobile app with their uniform reveal!”
- Per NFL League Office / NFL Social
Digital + Social Examples
Uniform Release Anthem Video:
Working with digital agency Burn and Broad we brought the stoop to life as a motion design element that serves to amplify energy moments throughout the season.
In Stadium Examples
Out-of-Home Examples
Retail Examples
Results
Under my direction we evolved the Falcons Brand DNA to introduce a sleek, clean, bold, and youthful uniform designs that connected with the team’s past but were laser-focused on the future.
The new designs exceeded fans’ and players’ expectations, modernized the brand, and generated $1.6M in jersey sales in just the first 6 days – breaking all previous team retail records.
“I absolutely love them.”
NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders on the Falcons new uniforms.
