2026 FIFA World Cup United Bid identity

In summer 2017, as part of United Bid of Mexico, USA and Canada for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, I was approached by Canada Soccer’s General Secretary to create a logo that would represent the bid. My work was submitted to the United Bid Committee Board of Directors along side other logos from the United States Soccer Federation and Mexican Football Federation. The identity I created was chosen.

This was one of my last projects as Creative Manager for Canada Soccer before I left the organisation later that year. While I don’t consider this my best design work, it is definitely the most prestigious. Big thanks to Peter Montopoli for his confidence in my work and for the opportunity. The logo will live until a host is chosen by FIFA later this year. Good luck to the United Bid Committee and hopefully we will get that world class event in North America (CONCACAF).

Show Reel 2017

Sample of my professional work at Canada Soccer from the last 5 years along side Freelance work and personal projects that inspire me.

“The Rematch” Poster

Earlier this year, an international friendly match United States Women’s national team was organised for June 2^nd 2013 at BMO Field in Toronto. This match against the Americans was the first time the two teams would clash since the dramatic semi-final at the Women’s Olympic Football tournament at the London 2012 Olympics.

The inspiration behind the marketing campaign visuals was the War of 1812, which had just celebrated its centennial. The announcement to the media was made at Fort York near Toronto, one of the key locations of the war.

With the War of 1812 in mind, I designed a poster that would literally transform the soccer field into a battlefield filled with smoke with captain Christine Sinclair kicking the ball as if it was a canon ball.

The match CAN v USA was Sold-out with the first hour and set a record crowd at BMO Field.

 Copyright Canada Soccer 2013, by Dany Pépin

Canada Soccer 2012 Annual Report

The 2012 Annual Report was definitely one the most interesting and labour extensive project of the year, because 2012 was highlighted by the 100th anniversary of the association and the memorable bronze medal by the Canadian women’s national team at the Olympic football tournament. With the title “Capturing the Moment” I was tasked to design a centennial annual report that would look like an old photo/scrapbook with a timeline section and the usual text, graphs and statistics you find in annual reports.

To play with the title “Capturing the Moment”, each section is identified by a meaningful out of focus black and white photo with the exception of a small sharp colour portion framed in white. The explanation of that “moment” is written down in script along side the frame.

To give the final product an old feel, I used a matte text paper for the inside and a linen textured cover paper for the cover. The final product and following appreciations was above my expectations.

 Copyright Canada Soccer 2013, by Dany Pépin

Concept : National Championships Emblem

Here is a concept I made for the Canadian Soccer Association National Championship. Unfortunately the emblem was declined and never used. The difficulty in this project was all the elements that needed to be incorporated i.e. both french and english title, the Canada Soccer logo, the year, the two sponsors and a reference to soccer.

 Copyright Canada Soccer 2013, by Dany Pépin

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 : Applications

As you may know, Canada will be hosting the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2014 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015. As the designer for Canada Soccer, I’m involved in some of the design work needed by the Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 National Organising Committee. Here are few of many applications I worked on so far.

 Copyright 2013, FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 by Dany Pépin

New look for the Canadian Championship

After Amway renewed their title sponsorship of the Canadian Championship, I was tasked in updating its visuals and brand. Again, the logo was not going to change, but I needed to create brand guidelines and update all applications (stationary, PowerPoint theme, etc.) accordingly. Also I needed to create a large backdrop that would be used behind the players and coach in the pressroom for media conferences and interviews. You will observe that I included the hexagonal mesh into the design to tie it with the Canada Soccer branding. Below are few pages from the brand guidelines and pictures of the media backdrop.

Note: The Amway Canadian Championship is the tournament involving the 4 Canadian professional clubs (FC Edmonton, Impact de Montréal, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC) and serves as the Canadian qualification for the CONCACAF Champions League. The 2013 Canadian Champion is the Montréal Impact.

Brand guidelines

Media Backdrop

Marco Schällibaum, Impact Head Coach, after 2^nd leg semi final win in Montréal. Photo by François Mellet

 Copyright Canada Soccer 2013, by Dany Pépin

Design for the 2013 AGM

Each year the Canadian Soccer Association’s board of directors and the provincial associations members assemble during an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to discuss different issues surrounding canadian soccer. For this year’s assembly, I simply used the new Canada Soccer brand to design the AGM accreditations, backdrops and some other applications.

 Copyright Canada Soccer 2013, by Dany Pépin

Rebranding the Canadian Soccer Association

One of my first order of business when I started my job at the Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) was to rebrand the non-profit organization. Besides a logo, the branding was almost non-existent. With that said, this was not a full rebrand because since the Women’s National Team won the bronze medal at the London 2012 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, the Canada Soccer logo was more recognized than ever. So, I had to develop brand guidelines, a graphic signature and all the applications to go along the existing logo.

The main inspiration behind the graphic signature was the hexagonal netting of a modern soccer goal. It is the target and ultimate objective that every player is trying to reach. As an organization, it represent Canada Soccer’s quest “or goal” to reach the World Cup and for Canada to become a leading soccer nation.

The final product was well received by the organization and with this new corporate brand, the provincial associations seemed to be more inclined than ever to unite and develop the future of soccer in Canada. The short version of the brand guidelines is available here.

 Copyright Canada Soccer 2013, by Dany Pépin

An overdue update

I’ve been so busy in the last 8 months with my new job and a couple of side jobs, that I’m totally behind on my posting. So here is the update.

I now work “officially” a the web editor in the Canadian Soccer Association business development department. My position’s responsabilities include Web Content Management, Writing and Editing, translation and graphic design. Since I started 80% of my work is Graphic Design related. Even if the hour are long, the job is very fulfilling and rewarding especially when you feel your are making a difference in the organization. Working in sports is not all glam and fame as one might think when watching sports on TV. The team(s) is always on the forefront, but now I understand how much work there is behind the curtains, especially for amateur sports in Canada. While working for the Association I also do some graphics work for the National Organizing Committee of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015. With this new job I’ve rediscovered “The Beautiful Game” as it is called.

I’ll try to post some of my design work when I get the proper authorization to do so. Some of this work will be official projects or others designs that were not used. I will continue to post freelance jobs when I have the chance.