MLS Best XI
This project was created for the MLS, the domestic football league in the US, as a unique way to reveal the best XI players for the year. For something that is traditionally presented as a list, the social team at MLS really wanted to reach to create something new and engaging. Having partnered with the MLS social team before, when they approached me with the idea to create a little foosball table filled with the likeness of current stars, I knew this was going to be a memorable project.
The best part of this project for me was taking the photos of the real players and figuring out the best way to minimize features, simplify forms, and take them into the world of little wooden men without loosing their individual likeness. We needed the characters to be familiar but also fit into this fun and new format. Using 3D sculpting software, I meticulously crafted each of the players, sculpting faces and hair until they were all unique. The textures were painted on in a 3D painting software in order to keep the ‘hand drawn’ effect alive. After the players were modeled, I drew up a basic storyboard and animated the ball using a dynamic parenting constraint. The setup allowed me to guide the ball position by hand without loosing the interaction with the ground and each of the players. The end product was a unique and novel way to show the best eleven players from that year. A huge thank you to the team at MLS for always being happy to try something new.
