Building on the flaming heart painting of FC Twente, I started working on an Ajax logo illustration for a client, also with a flaming heart. This time, the design was composed of several things that were completely tailored to the wishes of the client. For example, the background has the colours of the Ajax flag, the logo itself is a combination of the old and new logo, three championship stars were added above the logo and all the Dutch and European titles were added.
The assignment
The client really liked the FC Twente painting and wanted a similar painting of his favourite football club Ajax. He wanted an A2 size version (59.4 x 42 cm) for on his wall, with some adjustments:
- The background not black, but white-red-white like the Ajax colours.
- The logo itself is a combination of the ‘old’ Ajax logo with a detailed image of the hero from Greek mythology and the red arches and black letters of the ‘new’ logo.
- Three gold-coloured championship stars, representing 3 x 10 national championships won, above the logo.
- All years of national championships won, KNVB Cup titles and important international prizes to the left and right of the logo, in red letters.
Approach
I started by making a trace of the combined logo, the flames, stars and the years. I made an example myself, printed it in four parts on A4 paper and taped it together so that it would be A2 size. I copied the example onto watercolour paper. I then stretched the watercolour paper on a glass table top.
Adding the flames with coloured pencil was a piece of cake. I had done the flames before and now I know exactly how to make them.
Then I continued with the image of the Greek hero Ajax from the ‘old’ Ajax logo and drew it with black coloured pencil . I considered using charcoal to make the lines even blacker, but charcoal stains a lot, so I chose coloured pencil instead. With gouache, I painted the red arches and black letters from the ‘new’ Ajax logo and the gold-coloured stars as well.
Then it was time for the background. With gouache, I added a white, a red and another white stroke. I also painted the background of the circle in the middle white.
Unfortunately, the tape started to tear on the sides. I removed the tape and re-secured it with stronger tape. Fortunately, the paper remained reasonably flat; with gouache you use less water than with watercolours, so the paper does not bulge as much. I am very happy about that, otherwise I would have had to start all over again.
Finally, it was time for the titles and dates, again in gouache. Getting the dates straight was a real challenge. I chose a digital font that comes close to the letters in the Ajax logo. After some corrections, I got the letters right on the paper.
There was also the fact that Ajax could still win several prizes this year, so I had to wait with adding the final years. The year 2021 for the national title and the KNVB Cup have eventually been added.
The client is very happy with the end result. He decided to have the painting framed himself. The photo of the framed version will follow as soon as it is ready.
Are you also interested in a similar painting of your favourite football club? Or would you like ColourFlux Studio to design a logo? Then please contact me via the contact form.
Same concept but for Feyenoord
Perhaps it is not such a good idea to mention Ajax and Feyenoord in the same sentence, but to accommodate Feyenoord fans as well, prints of the same concept are available: the Feyenoord logo with a flaming heart.
Different editions of the Feyenoord logo with a flaming heart are available:
- The Basic Edition consists of the Feyenoord logo in the centre, coloured flames around the logo and a black background. This variation can be framed with a red passe-partout and white frame of the club colours, or a green passe-partout and white frame of the Rotterdam flag colours.
- The Champion Edition consists of the basic edition, and with a gold-coloured star above the logo. This variation can also be framed with a red passe-partout and white frame of the club colours, or a green passe-partout and white frame of the Rotterdam flag colours.
- The Limited Edition consists of the Champion Edition, and with all Dutch and European titles in gold lettering to the left and right of the logo. The Limited Edition can be ordered with a gold metallic passe-partout and a black frame. This matches perfectly with the logo and the titles.
- A single print on A4 size (21 x 29.7 cm) of each variation is available for € 25.
- The Basic or Champion Edition with red passe-partout and white frame is available for € 45.
- The Basic or Champion Edition with green passe-partout and white frame is available for € 50.
- The Limited Edition with gold metallic passe-partout and black frame is available for € 65.
Besides these prints, it is of course also possible to buy the original Feyenoord logo illustration. This is without the star and titles. The original illustration is available with gold metallic passe-partout and black frame for € 150.
All the above prints are available via the Webshop (only in Dutch). If you are interested in the original illustration, please contact me.
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