DESIGN EXPERT TO CREATE ALL 20 SUPERLEAGUE FORMULA LIVERIES
Thousands of football fans around the world are eagerly
awaiting the chance to see their club colours aboard the 750
horsepower, V12-powered Superleague Formula cars – and,
with only four months to go before the kick off at Donington
Park, British graphic designer Ian Hutchinson is bearing the
weight of expectation.
The renowned racing car livery designer has been appointed
to complete the designs for the entire Superleague Formula
field – 20 cars to be completed in time for the championship’s
pre-season kick-off in Barcelona from July 29.
All 20 clubs will gather in Spain for the final pre-season
test where the liveries will be unveiled at the home of both
the Spanish Grand Prix and Superleague Formula.
Hutchinson is the man responsible for some of the most memorable
liveries in world motorsport including the classic Silk Cut
Jaguar sportscars (and the US-based Castrol and Bud Light
sponsored entries); the 7Up Jordan Formula 1 car and the entire
series of Mild Seven-sponsored Benetton and Renault Formula
1 entries.
“This is certainly a unique challenge that I am looking
forward to,” Hutchinson said.
“For each football club, I have to combine the colours
and logo as well as blending in the sponsorship for each package.
“The other challenge is ensuring each club is instantly
recognisable by their fans – this can also be tricky
because red and white seem to be very popular colours for
football clubs and I have to make sure each team stands out
on the track.”
Olympiacos, PSV Eindhoven, Sevilla all wear red and white,
while AC Milan and Brazilian club Flamengo also share red
and black. The other Superleague Formula clubs already confirmed
include Borussia Dortmund (black and yellow), Corinthians
(black and white), FC Basel (red, yellow and blue), FC Porto
(blue and white), Galatasaray (red and yellow), Rangers (red,
white and blue) and RSC Anderlecht (purple and silver).
“I think this is probably the first time a designer
has had to tackle the enormity of designing the liveries for
an entire championship – it is very exciting,”
Hutchinson added.
“The club logos are the starting point, then we mix
in the sponsorship – it is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle.
“You always get a lot of feedback and opinion about
racing car liveries but now I’ll have all the fans from
the clubs giving me their thoughts as well.
“When I started doing designs back in 1982, everything
was done with hand drawn sketches but it is about computers
now.
“The cars have also changed considerably as well. You
had a lot more flat surfaces to work with back then, but now
with all the aerodynamics you have a far more interesting
‘canvas’ to work with.”
While Hutchinson’s designs have won some of the world’s
most prestigious motor racing events (including the Formula
1 World Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans), the man
himself has also scored his fair share of awards including:
Global Typestyle Award - 1982
Best Livery in World Rally Cars - 1986
Best Livery in World Sports Cars - 1987
Best Livery in Formula One - 1991
Best Livery in Formula One - 1994
Best Livery in ASCAR - 2002
Best Livery in ASCAR - 2003
Best Livery in Formula One - 2005
Designer of the most prominent logo in Formula One - 2005
Designer of the most prominent logo in Formula One - 2006
Best Livery in A1GP: 2006 - 2007
Designer of the best presented team image in A1GP: 2006 –
2007
The Superleague Formula championship will kick off at Donington
Park on August 30/31, and then head to the Nurburgring (GER),
September 20/21; Zolder (BEL), October 4/5; Estoril (POR),
October 18/19; Vallelunga (ITA), November 1/2; and Jerez (Spain),
November 22/23.
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