Brâncuși and Football The story reflects my opinion about the football kit of “Universitatea Craiova”(Romanian First Division), released in July 2017 prior to the upcoming season. A season that will see the team début in UEFA Europa, League after an absence of almost 20 years. And highlights one of Brâncuși masterpieces. Jean Popescu Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 13, 2017

1 I will start by giving you a short intro about the team, and the design motif used this year for the kits. 2 Then in the second part, I will underline why it’s bad and how I would suggest fixing it. 3 Last part of the story will consist of mockups and my thoughts of new motifs. 1. Welcome to Craiova The previous season saw the team finishing on an honorary spot in the Romanian top tier division. After years of always finishing in the middle of the table or even fighting to avoid relegation, last year they managed to stay on top 5. They have earned a European spot. It gives the team a chance to perform in the UEFA Europe League qualifiers after a break of 17 years. Meaning that some financial deals can be made. One of them would be the new kit.

In the past years the team never had a customised design for the kits, playing in non-customised default jerseys supplied by the manufacturer.

And here, with this thought in mind, is where it went wrong with the new kits. The Romanian National Team has a new kit supplier for two years now: the Spanish manufacturer Joma. After the deal with the National team, they had expanded their business by providing eqipment to local teams, not only in Romania but Eastern Europe. They are cheap and affordable and getting lots of interest from small budget teams. The retro Joma jerseys were pretty marvelous back in the heyday. And for sure they did not give the impression of being cheap at all.

Here are some of my favourite designs, that I would wear anywhere, anytime at any point.

What happened Joma? Why is your design process so different nowadays? Look at the models between the two pictures above. You will see how many small details are missing in the new kits compared to the classic ones. I am going to ask you, the reader, to do a short test. If you are a football lover, or jersey collector, or know somebody who does, please ask them to name any great Joma product, or design, or team. Nobody will do that because their templates are designed so randomly made that they do not pass the test of time. Leaving the last year kits aside, let’s take a closer look at the new ones. 2. Now, this is what I think it happened. The Craiova club officials realized that they would be once again on the European football stage and probably they have requested Joma an iconic kit to mark this event of 17-year absence. Craiova city sits in the south part of Romania, and the club probably suggested a design element characteristic of this region, an element that could resemble the “Oltenia” area — headquarters of the team. Now is where it’s getting interesting. One of the Romania famous sculpture, Constantin Brâncuși, has his origins in this part of the country. He was born in Târgu Jiu, a 109km distance from Craiova. Brâncuși was asked to commission a Sculptural Ensemble in the region of his hometown, and he gladly accepted. He was at the time living in Paris but welcomed the opportunity to create a large commemorative sculpture in his homeland. He accepted the commission in 1935 but refused to receive payment for it. Part of this Ensemble is the “Endless Column.” The Endless Column symbolizes the concept of infinity and the infinite sacrifice of the Romanian soldiers fallen in the First World War. It is considered by Sydnei Geist the top point of the modern art. The Endless Column stacks 17 rhomboidal modules, with a half-unit at the top.

The Endless Column pictured above. The football club wanted to imprint this sculpture in their new kits. Considering it is not even in the city the team plays in.

Here is the official statement from the football club regarding The Endless Column sculpture: “The idea that Brâncuși had when he designed the Endless Column was to create a connection between earth and sky. And this connection finds itself in our football club, where those that went into heavens: Oblemenco, Crișan, Ștefănescu or Corneliu Stroe, will always be in our hearts and will always guide us to new victories. We will always think of them when we are going to see our lads playing this upcoming historic season.” Misuse of heritage concept

How is it possible that you can use such motifs or identity values for a football team? How can you look into the past to motivate you to perform? This is the Romanian football mentality I have spoken in my previous articles. The mentality that Romanians football clubs have is not helping to build up a new identity to live up to it. The Romanian football clubs are stuck in the past. Still sleeping and need to be awaken.Those people mentioned above in the official statement, are the club iconic players from the past, but if they would be today with us I am very sure they would like to see a team with a long term plan, a new style, a fresh one. A team should look into reaching new horizons all the time. It should have motifs of youngsters, motifs of rebuilding, motifs of a community. The only reason to look into the past is to learn from your own mistakes, and that’s it. You live in the present. 3. A closer look to the new design.

The Column motif + Home Kit (Blue) / Away Kit (White) / Third Kit (Black)

What’s bad about it: Shapes. To many geometrical shapes happening on the front of the shirt. You have thick stripes coming out from the top, then you have the rhomb part of the endless column motif, and then a third one is the club crest that is a combination of an oval with square including more lines. Colors. There is an abundance of colors and poorly distributed. The orange on the sponsor doesn't match with any scheme. The inverted color scheme of the team crest is not making enough contrast with the rest of the kit. Distribution of elements. Going to point a couple of them. The endless column motif positioned in the middle and touching the thick stripes on the left and right edge. The crest is not placed centrally in the space between the thick lines on the top right. Then you have threetypes of lines consisting of different heights and widths: the thick lines coming from top to bottom, the lines in the team crest and the horizontal lines in the motif.

The Column motif is not even consistent on all 3 kits. It ends at the bottom in a different way on all 3 kits.

How I would salvage it*: *While still keeping Joma design guidelines Make the front sponsor Logomark and Woodmark same color on all three kits: white. Remove the motif as it looks like a Shutterstock vector. There is no design system on it: different shapes and sizes of the lines. The color itself that team uses for the kits, blue and white, is a well-established motif for the team, which is nicknamed “The White and Blues.” Another better motif than the current column would be the other two nicknames of the team: “The Students” or “ The Champion of a Great Love.” The last one would be the best motif in my opinion to explore. Change the crest. By doing this, they can avoid all legal issues with the previous local team that was dissolved in 2014 and were using the same crest. The current badge contains too many elements competing against each other. In the past years, the club was very ineffective in communicating a brand message by having changed the logo three times reusing the same elements all the time. My suggestion is that the club should look into the future and try to condense elements. Looking at Juventus rebranding from this year.

Using Romanian flag as motif on the sleeves + combining lines and rhombs to make a pattern on front jersey Using Romanian flag as motif on the sleeves + low opacity crest lion on the front jersey instead of pattern Black Version

The Endless Column motif:

My issues with this motif are not only the execution. But the sculpture itself, it is 109 km away from the headquarters of the team and not even in the same county. Let’s consider that a foreign team supporter comes into town and start asking directions that he would like to visit it after seeing it on the kit. Well, it’s a 2 hours drive from Craiova. It is not an even local landmark for the city or even having a relationship with the city and the inhabitants. The Column, Brâncuși, the motif is not representing the Cravioa city at all. Suggestion for other motifs: Architecture and Developing. Craiova will soon have a new stadium, a modern architectural style that will set a standard for future buildings in the city.

Lion. In the 80’s a Lion appears on the main crest of the club. The aggressive style of play of the local footballers started to be compared to Lions fighting back then. It could be the most significant value of the club. But forgotten.

The “U.” It was for such a long time the main crest of the team until the lion was introduced in the 80’s. This alphabet letter can be transformed into a visual icon, same as Google is associated with G or McDonald’s with M. And this how I conclude my story, my thoughts, and opinion. But before I sign off I would like to present you a more successful example of a kit release. Dinamo Bucharest switched this year from Nike to Macron, and I believe their stripped kit is straight on point.