Our friend and frequently featured artist Charis Tsevis was recently commissioned by TBWAChiatDay to create his trademark mosaic illustrations for a campaign with, arguably, the most famous sports drink company in the world Gatorade. (Quick fact: In the U.S., Gatorade dominates with about 75% market share of the sports drink category.)
Some of the best athletes in the world were featured in the campaign, including former NBA star Michael Jordan and the fastest man in the world Usain Bolt. Watch as the Greek artist honors them with his powerful geometric portraits that almost seem to move.
“We tried to push it to the limits and I would probably cover a whole mile of web space to present all the work we have done,” Tsevis said. “There were two different campaigns running parallely. The first would cover the Latin American and Hispanic market and the second would be a global campaign.”
Describing the photo above, he says, “Usain Bolt is the fastest man on Earth. The Jamaican sprinter is a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and (along with his teammates) the 4100 metreUsain played a main role in the whole campaign.”
“We are talking about the legend. The guy is Gatorade's favorite athlete of the last 20 years starring in legendary campaigns like ‘Be like Mike' or the ‘Gatorade color sweat.' I experimented with many different versions for this one, trying to create something with less colors comparing to the rest of the series but with more historic references.”
“Paulo Henrique Ganso (the Goose) is the new #10 of the Brazilian national football team. That's probably the greatest achievement for a footballer. He is playing for Santos and he really rocks. The mosaic illustration for Ganso is probably my favorite of the series. I liked the pose and I enjoyed playing with the ball energy.”
“Israel has been the captain of Pumas Unam, the Champions of the Mexican Primera Division. He also plays for the Mexico national football team. I created probably more than 10 different version and compositions of him and the ball. We have finally chosen this one that gives a more golden aura to the soccer player.”
“Swimming may not be as popular as soccer in Brazil but probably this is why Csar Cielo's message is precious. Csar is the most successful Brazilian swimmer in history, having obtained two Olympic medals, four World Championships gold medals and breaking a world record within a one-year span. He is also the current world record holder in the 100 meter and 50 meter freestyle. I played with the antithesis of warm and cold colors for this illustration underlying the power and the joy of the victory.”
Sal lvarez is the undefeated Mexican boxer and the current WBC Light Middleweight champion. I particularly liked his noble face and his smile. I dedicated all my cinnamon (canelo in spanish) related colors adding some extra green and red lights for underlying the Mexican origin and pride.
