URTO
Calcio Storico Fiorentino is one of the oldest and most violent sports in Europe. Football, rugby and wrestling fused into a Renaissance ritual, played in costume on the sand of Piazza Santa Croce. Yet it still dresses like a village festival: dated branding and merchandise that betray the spectacle on the pitch.
A tradition the world barely knows, made impossible to ignore.
Urto means impact, and the wordmark is built to land one. Four condensed capitals drawn on a strict grid, squared shoulders and tight counters, compressed until the name itself reads like a collision.
The palette is the map of Florence. The same reds and blues fill the stands of Santa Croce, and every colour translates a district.
Two condensed grotesques, chosen for compression and force. No serifs, no nostalgia: the letterforms have to hit as hard as the sport.
Every shirt carries one motif: the rose window of Santa Croce, the basilica that frames the pitch, redrawn as an all-over jacquard. One geometry, four colours, one for each historic quarter of the city.
A centuries-old ritual, redrawn as a brand the city could wear.
The Visual System
Bold typography and high-contrast imagery reflect the physicality and intensity of the sport. The editorial system works across formats, from print layouts to digital applications, holding visual consistency while leaving room for expressive variation.
The Approach
The project combined photography, typography and graphic design into a visual system that treats Calcio Storico as a living cultural phenomenon rather than a historical relic, bridging heritage and modernity for both local and international audiences.
Applications
The system off the pitch: an editorial line, street media and match-day print, carried across the city.
A brand and editorial identity that repositions Calcio Storico Fiorentino as a dynamic, culturally relevant experience.
"Design can reframe perception, turning a centuries-old tradition into something that speaks to a contemporary global audience."
