NUFC JAPAN
Newcastle United Football Club
Drummond Central
Context
As Newcastle United prepared for their pre-season tour of Japan ahead of the 2024–25 Premier League season, we had the opportunity to pitch a campaign designed to capture the energy and identity of the team while celebrating Japan’s rich cultural heritage.
The campaign needed to score across all social platforms, creating content that’s engaging, culturally tuned-in, and designed to get fans talking, connecting, and cheering the Magpies on all the way from Japan.
Solution
We won the pitch and Manga quickly stood out as the perfect fit, with its bold, expressive linework, rich storytelling, and huge popular appeal.
Its graphic style and dynamic typography made it a natural way to connect Japanese culture with Newcastle United’s identity, giving the club’s pre-season tour a visual language that’s playful, energetic, and instantly engaging for fans.
Drawing on my own appreciation of the art form, I created manga-inspired illustrations of the players to celebrate both the style and Newcastle United in the most ownable way. 12 players in 2 kits to be exact.
Our lads did Geordies proud and Newcastle United’s 2024
pre-season tour to Japan was a resounding success, both on and off the pitch. The club’s engagement with fans was exceptional. A post on Instagram featuring the team in Shibuya Crossing garnered over 59,000 likes and nearly 1,000 positive comments.
