Interview

    Could you talk about your choice of the football pitch and the inspiration you’ve taken from Hackney Marshes?

David Johnston: For me, that particular green area of London – which I live quite close to and has 88 full-size football pitches, and a full spectrum of nature in a way that most of London doesn't have – I love that whole area.

Before lockdown, it would have hosted over 100 amateur Sunday League games every single weekend. The energy down there, for that reason, is fantastic. Getting the amateur leagues back up, and the job that does for the community – really getting people using that big beautiful area of green land – is what inspired us to come up with this idea.

    And so how did you redesign the pitches to enable safe play?

I suppose the main aim was to incorporate general social distancing rules, as they stand at the moment, whilst attempting to really maintain the energy, the spirit and the formation of the standard game, as well as a sort of integrity.

The pitch has been sectioned into compartments, so each player, based on known formations that a current football team would deploy. Players must not leave the delineated zone – and we’ve considered the kit as well, so you've got high-contrast, bright colours that are used to make it clear where the boundaries are, and the sections the players are from.

    How did you avoid cues of restriction, then?

We decided to actually take that cautionary vernacular, I suppose, and we adapted cues such as hazard stripes to develop the aesthetic of the game. So, they are used here to delineate space for players at a super macro-level – super graphic style.

    So, it’s not about obliterating that language but making it into something else, something fun. What was your main inspiration? Are the colours you’ve chosen just aesthetically-driven?

It’s rooted in this idea of colouring and patterning that’s historically used for warning, but we've kind of re-appropriated it, re-contextualised it – and the colours are all inspired from bright vibrant fluorescents.

    Energising and inspiring?

It's an interesting point. We've done a lot of research into football, and all sports – we’ve worked closely with Nike, and we've done research into what makes athletes tick. And, it is very personal, so it’s not ‘one size fits all.’ But, we were lucky enough to work with Nike football early on, at a very formative stage for them – which would have been about 15 years ago  – when you were finding these new football players that were complete radicals actually, mavericks.  You had these superstar teams being pulled up around people like Cristiano Ronaldo, who was effectively wearing what looked like ballet shoes – bright pink ballet shoes, on that very highly manicured man. And it was changing the way that football stars were seen. The energy that that those pink shoes gave Cristiano Ronaldo – because he's all bravado, he’s all peacock – is quite fun to play with.

    How does this represent an Accept & Proceed approach, or reflect your DNA as an agency?

We try to bring about positivity through our work, in some way shape or form, and we try to have a sense of humour with as well. I think this is probably an evolved aesthetic of Accept & Proceed, where we're using a lot more colour than ever – and the energy that comes from that colour reflects an optimism, and a hopefulness around the future that we have, because we realise that design is problem-solving, at the end of the day – and, boy, do we have some problems to face.

    What is the importance of public space for your agency?

I think it is about that genuine social interaction. The whole world is going online, isn’t it? And we do push the edges of technology, and we're trying to find ways that you can use technology in a beneficial and emotionally engaging way – but we also know there are pitfalls around technology and human experience. So, evermore during COVID, I think a need for social interaction is necessary – and the joy the public space brings with it, it means engaging with people from across our society, which, in this part of London, is pretty diverse.

    Are there other spaces that need design attention?

We should be rethinking everything right now – from power, to travel, to food, to the NHS, to politics and technology ­– I do feel that's what's happening.

    And I know one of your team members really took this project on board…

I 100% want to give a shout out to Nigel Cottier. Believe it or not, Nigel has been with us his entire life – not since he was born, but his whole career. He’s honed this incredible skill and rigour around design, where you can take the small seed of an idea, as I described, and create a beautiful thing, that you see before you – so, a massive shout out to Nigel.

There is an undoubted excitement for the pro football leagues to start up again – broadcasters have been locked-in, times scheduled and TVs in houses up and down the country reserved for kick-off – and the need for a pitch-perfect way to do it. We took this as a spark. How can we fix the everyday leagues for the amateurs who come together whatever the weather, for the love of the game?

Imagine reshaping the amateur game to allow for general social distancing rules. KYDL* utilises a zoned pitch, promoting a passing Tiki Taka type game, same energy more precision. Let's find a way to get outside together and reawaken the dormant fields of grassroots community sports.

*Keep Your Distance League

Interview

    Could you talk about your choice of the football pitch and the inspiration you’ve taken from Hackney Marshes?

David Johnston: For me, that particular green area of London – which I live quite close to and has 88 full-size football pitches, and a full spectrum of nature in a way that most of London doesn't have – I love that whole area.

Before lockdown, it would have hosted over 100 amateur Sunday League games every single weekend. The energy down there, for that reason, is fantastic. Getting the amateur leagues back up, and the job that does for the community – really getting people using that big beautiful area of green land – is what inspired us to come up with this idea.

    And so how did you redesign the pitches to enable safe play?

I suppose the main aim was to incorporate general social distancing rules, as they stand at the moment, whilst attempting to really maintain the energy, the spirit and the formation of the standard game, as well as a sort of integrity.

The pitch has been sectioned into compartments, so each player, based on known formations that a current football team would deploy. Players must not leave the delineated zone – and we’ve considered the kit as well, so you've got high-contrast, bright colours that are used to make it clear where the boundaries are, and the sections the players are from.

    How did you avoid cues of restriction, then?

We decided to actually take that cautionary vernacular, I suppose, and we adapted cues such as hazard stripes to develop the aesthetic of the game. So, they are used here to delineate space for players at a super macro-level – super graphic style.

    So, it’s not about obliterating that language but making it into something else, something fun. What was your main inspiration? Are the colours you’ve chosen just aesthetically-driven?

It’s rooted in this idea of colouring and patterning that’s historically used for warning, but we've kind of re-appropriated it, re-contextualised it – and the colours are all inspired from bright vibrant fluorescents.

    Energising and inspiring?

It's an interesting point. We've done a lot of research into football, and all sports – we’ve worked closely with Nike, and we've done research into what makes athletes tick. And, it is very personal, so it’s not ‘one size fits all.’ But, we were lucky enough to work with Nike football early on, at a very formative stage for them – which would have been about 15 years ago  – when you were finding these new football players that were complete radicals actually, mavericks.  You had these superstar teams being pulled up around people like Cristiano Ronaldo, who was effectively wearing what looked like ballet shoes – bright pink ballet shoes, on that very highly manicured man. And it was changing the way that football stars were seen. The energy that that those pink shoes gave Cristiano Ronaldo – because he's all bravado, he’s all peacock – is quite fun to play with.

    How does this represent an Accept & Proceed approach, or reflect your DNA as an agency?

We try to bring about positivity through our work, in some way shape or form, and we try to have a sense of humour with as well. I think this is probably an evolved aesthetic of Accept & Proceed, where we're using a lot more colour than ever – and the energy that comes from that colour reflects an optimism, and a hopefulness around the future that we have, because we realise that design is problem-solving, at the end of the day – and, boy, do we have some problems to face.

    What is the importance of public space for your agency?

I think it is about that genuine social interaction. The whole world is going online, isn’t it? And we do push the edges of technology, and we're trying to find ways that you can use technology in a beneficial and emotionally engaging way – but we also know there are pitfalls around technology and human experience. So, evermore during COVID, I think a need for social interaction is necessary – and the joy the public space brings with it, it means engaging with people from across our society, which, in this part of London, is pretty diverse.

    Are there other spaces that need design attention?

We should be rethinking everything right now – from power, to travel, to food, to the NHS, to politics and technology ­– I do feel that's what's happening.

    And I know one of your team members really took this project on board…

I 100% want to give a shout out to Nigel Cottier. Believe it or not, Nigel has been with us his entire life – not since he was born, but his whole career. He’s honed this incredible skill and rigour around design, where you can take the small seed of an idea, as I described, and create a beautiful thing, that you see before you – so, a massive shout out to Nigel.