Tuesday, June 8, 2010

World Cup 2010!

Ronaldo World Cup 2010
I was commissioned by Wieden + Kennedy to carve 66 crayons for Nike's promotion of World Cup 2010!  Eleven special recipients received these boxes... I have no idea who got them, but I'm so jealous!  W+K is amazing to work with and the project was a welcomed challenge!  I had 18 days to make around 70 crayons, there was a week I slept 3 hours a night.  Enthusiasm and great communication from the team at W+K really helped my progress.  BIG THANKS TO:
Kelly Wright
Matt Blum (& Wendy)
Krystle Mortimore
Brad Simon
and the WHOLE TEAM!
Also a big thanks to John Jay for having my work in your office!

Clamshell Open

Clamshell Open
The clam-shell presentation box.


Clamshell Closeup
The contents: the wooden carrier also serves as the crayon's base.

Base Standing
The crayons in their base.

All Pieces
All of the pieces:
The design team at Wieden Kennedy made the box, base and contents.  I made the crayons.  They also chose the colors, it was a metallic/stone theme.  I've never worked with metallics or white before.  I'm a BIG fan of the silver and white crayons now. 
Photos courtesy of Wieden + Kennedy

Fronts
The 6 figures that are in each box.  In the final version Robinho (far left in Silver) sticks his tongue out slightly and Rooney (Grey) has his arm folded instead of raised above his head.  I wish I could have captured Rooney's signature pose, but it was impossible considering the form of a crayon.

Cannavaro World Cup 2010
Fabio Cannavaro in Antique Brass from Crayola.  This color was introduced in 1998 in the 120 box set.

Drogba World Cup 2010
Didier Drogba in Copper from Crayola. This color was introduced in 1957 and is Charles Schulz's favorite color from Crayola.

Ribery World Cup 2010
Franck Ribery in Gold from Crayola.  The color was introduced in 1949 in the 48 box set.

Robinho World Cup 2010
Robinho in Silver from Crayola.  This color was introduced with Gold in 1949 in the 48 box set.

Ronaldo World Cup 2010
Cristiano Ronaldo in White from Crayola. Introduced in the Studio & School 12 box in 1903

Rooney World Cup 2010
Wanye Rooney in Timberwolf from Crayola.  Introduced in 1993 in the Big Box of 96.

Here is Nike's Write the Future World Cup spot.  I love the part where they start printing "Wayne" name bracelets!

http://www.youtube.com/user/nikefootball

69 comments:

Betty said...

That is so totally cool Diem! Congratulations on getting such an awesome project done!

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Betty!

doro said...

congratulations!!!!
fantastic work! ;D
greetings

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Doro!

AC said...

awesome! congratulations, what a cool project.

Cheri said...

These are fabulous and bound to be the most amazing collector's items. I also love that you include the provenance of each crayon color - I love it when artists pay homage to their materials.

Mimi Torchia Boothby Watercolors said...

what incredible little carvings! I carefully compared each one to the real guy and was VERY impressed. I think I'll try to carve up a crayon. :)

buddha-builder said...

What an incredible marathon...beautiful!!

erin said...

very cool to see an artist get this type of commission from our town :)

excellent work Diem!

Daniel said...

Awesome work .. Brangien just showed me this and she was so excited for you!

Diem Chau said...

Holy cow! Thanks for all the comments!

Thanks Lazysundae and Erin!

Thanks Cheri - I love knowing where things come from, how they work and how they came to be. Crayola has such a legacy... I wish their page was a bit more fun and interactive.

Thanks Mimi :) I started with whittling on pencils then moved to crayons. I'm working on a "How it's done" post on my crayon sculptures.

Thanks Daniel! Lovin' your flickr stream :)

Wyly Astley said...

So pleased I got to see this. Really wonderful work.

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Wyly :)

Mr X Stitch said...

Truly awesome!

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Mr. Stitch! Looking forward to that book project :)

des said...

wow, that is beyond anything i was expecting! that looks amazing!! congrats.

Jenny said...

We met at Kelly Lyles once AND you and I both did portraits of Alan Lau. Nice work. Your drive blows my mind.

Grace Willard said...

Awesome! The display cases are a gorgeous compliments to your sculptures. Keep up the awesome work! :D

Alex Sunday said...

i'm a HUGE fan of football and a HUGE fan of your crayons, so this commission rocks my world! And I love the whole presentation. Impeccable. Well done!

Rosemoo said...

Really awesome! Hope they paid you a bundle for such excellent work!!!!

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Des & Grace, they did a great job with the presentation.

Thanks Jenny :) Alan = Cool

Thanks Alex! Always looking to rock :P

Thanks Rosemoo, they took care of me ;)

red road studio said...

Congratulations Diem - I don't know where you get your patience from an absolute work of art! all the best Jay

notodoeranflores said...

That's awesome. really, really great job! Congrats from Spain!

Diem Chau said...

Thanks you Jay :)

Thank you for stopping by the blog Notodoeranflores!

Anonymous said...

You do incredible work. Such eye for detail! Keep making beautiful art :)

Unknown said...

They are amazing!! Congratulations on a project well-done.

Nathalie Kalbach said...

Stunning!!! Congratulations!

Rae said...

These are amazing. Congrats!

Diem Chau said...

Thank you Alyrocker, Emdash84, Nat & Rachael!

Anonymous said...

utter, utter, utter rubbish.
did someone really get paid to make this crap.

Diem Chau said...

LOL... ha internet flamers, I love them.

I just wanted to post this and say I filter my comments for SPAM not for negativity. Next time at least leave a name with your opinion. :)

Anonymous said...

Omg, this is totally awesome! If you don't mind, I "shared" your work on my blog (of course with proper linkage)

Keep up the work!

-janis

Diem Chau said...

Thanks for sharing Janis!

Tisha Smith said...

Oh Diem, How happy am I for YOU! (super commission) and for World Cup, and for Crayola, and mostly for the lucky recipients of the NIKE press kits w/ your artwork!!!
Your art always amazes me---still hoping you may someday carve the Statue of Liberty in a crayon and let me use it on my "next" video project....alas, I say "next" b/c it's been over a year since the project began and I asked you if you had a pic of a Statue of Liberty crayon sculpture you'd done...(and you kindly told me you didn't)and the video project is still not done. Maybe if I take long enough, you'll end up w/ that commission and I can get a pic?
I will be in Portland this weekend, do you still have any Portland public showings, I'd love to visit: tisha@artwithmrssmith.com

Unknown said...

WOW! just WOW! amazing work! and good job scoring that gig! I look forward to your 'how-to', would have never thought of crayons...

Silver Strands said...

Just found you and WOW ... you are AMAZING!
ooxo
Denalee

CopperScaleDragon said...

I do not know who any of these people are but the carvings are really cool! Interesting concept, carving crayons.

Unknown said...

These are amazing!!!! Fantastic work.

Nicole M. said...

Those are so AWESOME!

Anonymous said...

Wow...just wow.
You are absolutely amazing!

Unknown said...

Diem! What a beautiful collection and what massive amount of work to accomplish it. Congratulations...you done good!
Beth

JUD said...

Wow! Way cool for everyone involved! Nice job too!

Somsara said...

Your work is amazing - huge fan. Congratulations on completing such an awesome project.

Lorrie Grainger Abdo said...

Very, very cool! I just posted about this (with a link back to you and credit) on my blog. My blog is about my art but we're soccer fans/fanatics too. It's not often that these two worlds meet. Congratulations and I'm happy to have found you and your work.

Lorrie Abdo
http://lorrieabdo.blogspot.com/2010/06/soccer-and-artart-and-soccer.html

Anonymous said...

Great Work!

But I don't get one thing...
The campaing shows Ronaldinho Gaúcho as the brazilian character, while the crayon represents Robinho. Doesn't match. Why?

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Everyone!

Trish- I remember your project, lets keep in touch. Unfortunately right now I'm as busy as ever. Hope the kids are still having fun with art!

Thanks for posting Lorrie :)

Ociocultural-
Wieden + Kennedy gave me the names of the 6 players to work with. I don't know why Ronaldinho wasn't one of them? I think that Robinho was in the "Write the Future" commercial though.

art lover said...

Diem, your work is brilliant.
Nike, genius move to choose Diem to create this one of a kind art for your promo efforts.

Glenna said...

This is very nice, you must feel highly honored. Desevadely so! I am so happy to find your blog tonight. I am now following you.

ms said...

oh my goodness!!!! these are incredible! The crafting is very fine and meticulous!! I wish i could have my hands on em! Love the intricate details

Anonymous said...

I have been thrilled by your work at first sight. Keep going! Your work is *einzigartig* ;)

James J. Dobbs said...

Amazing. Great work.

Diem Chau said...

Thank you Art Lover, James, VonMuttern & Ming Siew :)

Thanks Glenna, I'm definitely honored they pick my work!

alison said...

wow! the crayons are so adorable

Priscilla Mercedes Vazquez said...

Absolutely beautiful~ One of the most original and talented works I've seen in recent history.

I reposted on my blog: http://polarmagazine.net/blog/2010/06/18/world-cup-fever/

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Alison!

Wow thank you Priscilla *^_^* that's quite a big compliment!

Tainted Seclusion said...

I was randomly searching something about the World Cup and came across your creations. You are absolutely amazing and talented. I was in awe of your ability with tiny objects. The precision is amazing. I'm saving up now to buy a piece of your work, you will be very famous if you aren't already.

Anonymous said...

This is great! I had to share on Facebook! :) Congrats on the fantastic gig!

sincerely,
A total stranger

Diem Chau said...

Thank you Tainted Seculsion. Isn't randomness a great thing? :P

Thanks Total Stranger :)

Adrienne said...

This is brilliant! I love how these creayons turned out! I hope you don't mind if I share them on my blog

www.eatreallysuperfast.blogspot.com

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Adrienne,
I absolutely don't mind, thanks for asking.
Diem
p.s. cool blog

Necessary Nonsense said...

I agree with using the metallic colors they catch the light beautifully and give more depth to the characters! I am very impressed with your work, just lovely!

paper airplane design said...

Amazing! I just reblogged this here:
http://paperairplanedesign.blogspot.com/2010/06/world-cup-crayons.html

Yoli said...

They are absolutely gorgeous.

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Necessary Nonsense & Yoli

Thanks for the post Paper airplane!

Sandy said...

Having already seen this work on your blog a few weeks ago, I was delighted to see your World Cup crayons on the Fossil blog today...what wonderful recognition for your beautiful work! Congratulations. Looking forward to seeing what's next in your creative universe...

Diem Chau said...

Thanks Sandy!

tsevis said...

Amazing. Sincere congratulations.

jay b said...

Diem! What a beautiful collection and what massive amount of work to accomplish it. Congratulations...you done good!

Jay

Sprachaufnahme said...

That looks cool. Awesome project. Greetings from germany.