Conceived by Pete Blake of Liverpool, it pitted creatives from 32 countries against each other, in line with the real fixtures. Each ‘player’ had 90 minutes to design a visual comment on his team within 24 hours of the game being played.

It was a good exercise in discipline and spontaneity. With very little time, the first idea often had to do. My personal approach was to take it from game to game as opposed to planning the whole thing as a series. Every designer took a different approach and the end result tells a lot about the different cultures involved. The whole project has travelled as an exhibition around the world and can be found here.

Below my personal world cup experience as told through my submissions.

Germany – Portugal 4:0
The German word ‘TOR’ (goal) is an anagram of ‘ROT’ (red) which was the decisive contribution of Portugal.

Germany – Ghana 2:2
The Ghana game was one of two halves. The first fairly uneventful, the second wild and unpredictable, fizzing with four glorious goals.

Germany – US 1:0
I watched this on a business trip to Budapest and designed it on the way back home.

The current German football philosophy has been heavily influenced by former manager Jürgen Klinsmann and many of his original team played in this fixture.

So it was him against his men.

Germany – Algeria 2:1
Phew. It felt like Germany were trying get into gear but had forgotten to release the handbrake.

Germany – France 1:0
This was more of a typical later stage World Cup match, very tactical. Rasenschach (chess on grass) was the German word that came to mind.

Germany – Brazil 7:1
Unforgettable. Speechless is what we were, almost schocked (if delightfully so!).

Germany – Argentina 1:0
Lasting memory: a bloody-cheeked Schweinsteiger fighting despite cramping up. 120 tense minutes, then: elation.