Meet the art schools designing Champions League posters for Paris Saint-Germain

A selection of the Paris Saint-Germain posters produced by students in the past 18 months Posters: PSG/Ecole Camondo; design: Eamonn Dalton/The Athletic Share articleA Champions League partnership between Paris Saint-Germain and the French capital’s art schools is giving fresh meaning to the phrase ‘hang it in the Louvre’. Since the start of last season, PSG’s pre-match posters and pennants for their European ties have been designed by university students from two of the city’s schools for design and architecture. The results have been impressive. During PSG’s maiden Champions League-winning campaign last term, third-year students at Penninghen, a school of art direction and interior architecture, created 13 posters playing on the typography and logos of other clubs. This year, nine youngsters from Ecole Camondo have produced designs including a Vincent van Gogh-inspired Parc des Princes for the round-of-16 clash against Chelsea, a chess-style graphic for the league-phase encounter with Bayern Munich and an impressionistic set of ships floating on clouds for the quarter-final against Liverpool. At the end of it all, students face a far more daunting prospect than standing up in front of their peers — they present their work at PSG’s 48,000-seater stadium on matchday, explaining the inspiration behind their ideas. PSG had previously worked with artists from the city in past Champions League campaigns, but last season was the first where they collaborated with a university. Penninghen’s artistic director Gilles Poplin was contacted by PSG’s chief brand officer Fabien Allegre in late August 2024 asking him whether the school wanted to participate in the initiative. With a quick turnaround before the first match of the Champions League’s inaugural league phase in mid-September, Poplin opened applications to his artistic direction, images and media students. In the space of 20 minutes, he says he had filled all 30 spaces available. The students had around three days at a time to produce each unique design. PSG provided them with guidance but allowed them to express themselves. “This (PSG side) was a young team with talent, working with a team of young designers who also have that,” Poplin, 56, tells The Athletic. “They put their talent to the test.” The students brought their ideas to life using Adobe software. The poster for last season’s round-of-16 win against Liverpool combined the Merseyside club’s liver bird crest with the Eiffel Tower from the PSG badge, while the design for the semi-final against Arsenal featured the North London side’s iconic cannon lined up against the tower. For the league-phase meeting with Red Bull Salzburg, Elise Phuong took inspiration from the French and Austrian cities’ association with classical music. “We went from typographical elements to graphic ones as we went along,” says Phuong, a 23-year-old from the banlieues (outskirts of Paris) who went on to do an internship with PSG’s graphics department. “Between Salzburg and Arsenal there’s a difference in design, but it’s still coherent. We were always inspired by both clubs, whether that be a common theme or things that put them in contrast.” The posters were shared on PSG’s social media accounts and received almost six million views across various channels. On the pitch, Luis Enrique’s side swept all before them as PSG put years of near-misses under their Qatari owners behind them to finally lift the Champions League, with a record 5-0 win in the final against Inter. The partnership with young artists continued this year with Ecole Camondo, an interior architecture and design school of 479 students — although many of those who got involved in the project had not used graphic design software before. Those who wanted to be selected as part of the final group were tasked with creating a poster for the opening league-phase game against Atalanta in September. “We had a week to do it,” says Cesar Botta, 22, who has designed five of the posters so far. “For those seven days, there was no rest, no sleep. The goal was just to make the most beautiful poster possible to be selected. “In the first meeting we had with people from PSG, the first thing they told us was: ‘We’re Paris, we’re the city of art, museums, the Louvre and we want to bring an artistic touch to our communications, made by Parisians and students schooled in Paris’.” Among Botta’s works are the poster with the two ships for the Liverpool tie, representing the coat of arms of Paris and alluding to the historic rivalry between France and England. His classmate Jules Ragot designed the Starry Night tribute for the two legs against Chelsea, with the moon replaced by the Champions League ball. “Van Gogh found a lot of inspiration in France and also spent his early years as a painter in England, so it seemed like a good link to me,” says Ragot, 25. Botta and Ragot are PSG fanatics who still cannot believe players such as Joao Neves are being pictured with pennants they have designed. Others, such as Constance de Luze, had not set foot in a stadium before getting involved. She took inspiration from the tactical side of chess for her poster for the league-phase game against Bayern. The group have leant on their expertise in architecture. Botta and Ragot’s joint work for the semi-final against Bayern shows fans from both sides celebrating in buildings typical to Paris and Munich. “The idea was to highlight the atmosphere in the streets in both cities,” says Botta. “When you get closer to the final, at least in Paris, the tradition when there’s a big victory is that everyone goes to the Champs-Elysees. It’s a party everywhere in the streets.” Another party could be on the way if PSG can find a way past Bayern at the Allianz Arena tonight and get through to the final in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30. PSG have branched out into other industries such as fashion, music and gastronomy since their Qatari takeover in 2011, linking up with brands including Jordan and Dior, while rebuilding links with their fans and the local community. Critics say the club is a vehicle for ‘sportswashing’ Qatar’s poor human rights record. Those involved with the project prefer to focus on the opportunities being given to students. PSG have released collectors’ editions of the posters by Ecole Camondo students throughout the Champions League, with a portion of the sales going back to the school. “That’s also a club’s responsibility,” says chief brand officer Allegre. “When you talk about an institution, it’s about giving back to the community, to the city. “If you want to be the club of the new generation, you need to be focused on creating the bridge to connect them to art, music, sports, food.” “It’s above all for the students,” adds Elena Bormida, head of communications and development at Ecole Camondo. “For those who are passionate about football, it’s a dream.” Even those students who were not football fans before have been blown away by the engagement with the designs on social media. “It’s nice to see comments saying, ‘Wow, who made this poster for Barcelona? It’s so beautiful, where can we buy it?’. It gives it another dimension,” says Victoire Nikly, who designed two of the posters. “It’s our little trophy.” And, as far as exhibiting their work goes, few will experience a stage like the Parc des Princes again. The students’ posters are shown around the stadium’s big screens as they are interviewed in front of PSG’s raucous home crowd. “Compared to that, speaking in front of five people on an exams panel is OK,” says De Luze. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms