Street Soccer USA is a charity that fights homelessness through sports. Playing provides structure, support and a chance to be part of something positive, which is why 75% of participants get off the streets within a year. Our job was to help Street Soccer spread the word and raise some much-needed money. We did so by creating a brand called I PLAY FOR, based on the emotional reasons players participate. This was the basis not only for marketing materials, but also a retail component.

We designed a bold, typographically driven master brand (I PLAY FOR), along with 20 unique sub-identities (crests) for each of the teams. This comprehensive system draws attention to the emotional reasons for playing. The crests themselves were based on classic soccer iconography, creating a sense of pride in the teams sporting them.

The client was thrilled by the campaign, which not only raised awareness (it was featured on the NBC Nightly News, CNN and others) but also created a healthy revenue stream for the cash-strapped charity by selling the jerseys to fans.

It has also served as Street Soccer’s calling card as it goes after bigger sponsors – Nike and Microsoft have already contributed, and Street Soccer is in talks with several other Fortune 500 companies.