The World Cup is a defining moment in any year. We had the opportunity to bring the

nation together around unforgettable moments. And so our brief was simple. To bring as

many people to the our World Cup coverage and to demonstrate how the our channels are

where people come together to witness big event TV. We aimed to make the 2018 FIFA

World Cup an experience that couldn’t be missed.

There’s not much more important than the FIFA World Cup. Throughout history, tapestries

have been used to record events of great importance - Russia being no exception. The

country’s tapestries are some of the most intricate in the world. So to promote our

coverage of the upcoming tournament, we revived and modernised the ancient technique

of tapestry embroidery. We created an animated film in which every frame was itself

embroidered, a feat never before achieved at this scale and level of detail. We paid our

respects to a time-honoured tradition, and pushed the boundaries of animation (and

embroidery) in the process. We also created a 7 metre long tapestry depicting famous

World Cup moments throughout history, which currently hangs in the National Football

Museum, which has been visited by thousands of football fans in both England and

Russia.

Heavily influenced by Russian constructivist design, our character and background design

also took inspiration from Russian mosaic, statue, fabrics, and embroidery traditions. and

we chose to embroider our finished tapestry for real to remain true to the traditional

method. However, we updated the tapestry tradition in our choice of design materials. For

example, we used special gold thread for trophies, as well as the leather from real

footballs, incorporated into the tapestry using an appliqué technique. Certain sections

were raised through the use of puff embroidery, giving the piece a third dimension.