Speaking of stupid fan tricks, let me tell you a bit about the image below. The concept was to come up with a new banner for the 2005 MLS season, but something a bit different than the professionally done (read: “vinyl’) efforts in The Fort, or the mildy-amusing/mildly-creative player worship banners ordinarily seen displayed below a group of pre-pubescent girls.
I had wanted to do something with more of an adult theme, but also something with some foothold in pop culture… and for some time I’d been impressed and otherwise inspired by the characters in the “band” known as Gorillaz:
It was long before I found an image I liked on the back of a Gorillaz CD, and incoporated that into the design concept, which had a young many “tagging” the words “New England” and “Viva La Revolution” below it. Well, that eventually evolved into the end design, which turned out to include two characters, who were ultimately done as representations of New England Revolution players Steve Ralston and Clint Dempsey.
The final banner ended up being made of simple house-paint on heavy cotton canvas, and was approximately 5′ x 25′ long. Ultra Peanut did the hemming, while also putting on the hanging straps.
All in all I think it turned out quite well.