Designed, and soon to be created, for Amit and the Liverpool supporters group in Qatar, I was grateful to be given a lot of creative freedom to make something special for this project.
The group have an existing, commercially printed banner which simply reads “Qatar Reds” and which features the silhouetted images of the two Muslim Liverpool players most revered in the Middle East – Mo Salah and Sadio Mane. I was keen to build on these ideas, and hopefully to improve upon them, to create a new banner that spoke for the group.
As a strict adherent to the Boss Wednesday Agreement (KFS), I was reluctant to make it just about the fact that the owners come from Qatar. It is also important that the message means something to the average Kopite, who is maybe more au fait with Dingle than Doha, who is less Al Rayyan and more Allerton – in short, a Wacker, not Al Wakrah.
Fortunately, we do now have a strong link to Qatar, as the host nation for our World Club Cup glory in December 2019. I needed a message that spoke of that triumph in a way that would resonate with local supporters.
Apart from its vast oil reserves and desert regions, here in the UK, Qatar is perhaps best known as a mainstay in a thousand and one bad puns about guitars. Never a man to avoid a bit of dodgy wordplay, my inspiration came in a flash.
Using the typeface of the instantly recognisable Guitar Hero video game franchise logo, I set about drawing up a design that would give a nod to the WCC triumph and our two inimitable wingers, while at the same time appealing to both our local and global fan bases. Quite a feat, so I am very proud to say I think I’ve achieved it. Without further ado…
This is a design which sees me tackling a new challenge for the first time – crafting people from felt. I love to try and push myself to new achievements with each new banner, so I am really grateful to Amit for giving me so much creative licence and for allowing me the opportunity to do something new.
For a while there, I thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew, but with a lot of patience and concentration, I managed to bring him to life.
I’ll do the easy bits next (lettering , Liver Bird and flame) before I go back to the intricate work and craft Mo.
