The ‘Ultimate Search’ graphic novel is part of the Every Team Needs football campaign, a body of work that sees Zinedine Zidane travel all over the world to create a perfect team of football player types, starring some of the game’s greatest players. For the ‘Ultimate Search’, the brief was to continue - and go yet further - with the graphic novel look and style that developed for episode one in the campaign, TV and cinema commercial ‘The Spark’, starring Lionel Messi. Instead of making another three films, we decided to design a special edition, actual graphic novel.

So we took inspiration from the spirit of South Africa - the rainbow nation and football itself, 11 players and 11 languages. Each represented by a colored thread. The rounded forms echoing the central panel of the Official match ball of the tournament. Its lines dashed to reference traditional fabric weaving.An approach so meaningful, powerful, and relevant that it now affects the very mark that is used to identify the adidas brand, a first in the history of the brand. An idea becoming the mark that will unify all points on the journey that consumers will take towards South Africa, all touched by adidas football along the way.

The Unity typefont and Logo are used for player names and numbers on the National kits of Argentina, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Spain.

It emblazons packaging of all adidas World Cup products, as well as calling out 'Jabulani' on its inspiration the Official Match Ball of the tournament.But the Unity font and logo also live off the field - being used for the setting of all headlines and body copy across every single piece of adidas World Cup communications and in all media: Film, Content, Print, Digital, Gaming and Events.

This summer this Visual Language will have an audience of billions - while its roots remain firmly based on the pitches of South Africa.