Premier League LED Design (Selhurst Park Stadium)
CLIENT: Crystal Palace F.C. and Facebank Group
LOCATION: Selhurst, London
ROLE: Motion Designer
TOOLS: Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator
Brief
I was tasked with designing the LED perimeter visuals for a Premier League match at Selhurst Park. The goal was to create high-energy motion graphics for the sponsor, Facebank, that would look sharp both in the stadium and on live TV.
Facebank had recently become Crystal Palace’s sleeve partner and wanted the ad to match the visual impact of big brands like Monster Energy and Puma. The ad had to meet specific technical requirements in three dimensions, all in a 30-second duration at 25fps:
3380×80 (priority for maximum visibility)
1920×1080 (standard HD)
1280×720
The Challenge:
The stadium is a very busy environment, so I needed to create an ad that could grab attention from a distance. The main difficulty was the “elongated” (long and thin) screen format and I had to make sure the design didn’t look too crowded. Also, because we weren’t sure about using certain stock photos yet, I used that as an opportunity to experiment with new creative styles.
My Approach:
To solve these issues, I focused on two things:
Visual Clarity: I used light colors to make the branding look sharp and clear on the stadium LEDs.
Strategic Timing: Instead of a complex 30-second video, I proposed splitting the ad into two repeating parts. This made the 30-second loop feel energetic but easy to follow, ensuring the message wasn’t lost on the long screen.
my initial work – I incorporate all creative design ideas and let the client decide what works best for them
The team liked the first version, but we decided to make it even simpler so the message would stand out more in the stadium. During this process, they gave me an updated Facebank logo, which I added to the final design to keep the branding current.
final approved design
actual footage using the design • Crystal Palace vs Newcastle United • © Premier League 2021
The animation was displayed approximately every six minutes throughout the loop.
Upon completing this initial task, I was invited to assist in creating advertisements for upcoming Premier League games at Selhurst Park. Here are some of them:
Facebank Logo Animation
Facebank logo animation. I traced all the polygons from scratch because they don’t have a vector file of their logo. It takes a lot of work, but I’m happy with how it turned out
Crystal Palace vs Wolverhampton Wanderers • © Premier League 2021
“Swerve” (another app by Facebank)
Actual footage using the design:
Crystal Palace vs Wolverhampton Wanderers • © Premier League 2021
Expanding the “Fan of the Match”
For the high-profile match against Chelsea, I was asked to create an additional version of the “Fan of the Match” segment.
The Surprise Reveal: This version featured a new filter for the Brazilian club, Botafogo.
Confidentiality: It was an exciting challenge because this partnership was a surprise for the public. I had to make sure the design was perfect for the big announcement.
“Botafogo Fan of the Match”
Reflection
Working on a Premier League event requires a lot of attention to detail because of the global audience. I really enjoyed the challenge of making a tech brand feel energetic and “at home” in a sports stadium.
