The Brief
Dallas Sports Commission’s “Behind the Banner” was surviving on a template. One story, one placeholder headline, stock photography of a building nobody associates with the actual energy of a live match. It worked fine as a monthly email. But with Dallas hosting FIFA World Cup 2026 matches, DSC needed a publication that could carry the weight of an entire summer of coverage: fan culture, match recaps, community features, player storylines. The brief wasn’t “make it prettier.” It was “make it read like something people actually want to open.”
Editorial Direction
The redesign starts from a simple premise. A sports commission covering a World Cup should feel like a sports magazine, not a newsletter. That meant building real editorial infrastructure: a table of contents with page numbers, bylines on every feature, section dividers that behave like a publication’s front-of-book. Readers now know exactly what they’re getting before they scroll past the cover. Features on pages 4 to 5, a photo essay on 6 to 7, community news, an events calendar, a volunteer spotlight. Structure isn’t decoration here. It’s what turns a PDF attachment into something with an actual reading rhythm.
Typography as a Statement
The old masthead was a clean, safe serif sitting inside a torn-paper sticker, polite but forgettable. The redesign throws that out for a bold, overlapping display treatment. “BEHIND THE” stacked hard against an oversized “BANNER,” each letterform doing double duty as both headline and graphic device. It’s loud on purpose. The type has to compete with a stadium full of blue jerseys and win, and at thumbnail size, in an inbox, on a phone, it still reads instantly as Behind the Banner before anyone processes a single word of copy.
Photography Over Illustration
Every stock photo got cut. In its place, a nine-image fan photo essay shot and curated like a real photo desk. Oranje Army marches, a girl in an Umbro kit with American flags in her hair, Ultras gatherings, Messi mid-celebration. The photography direction leans into proximity and emotion over polish. These aren’t posed brand shots, they’re the actual texture of Dallas turning into a World Cup city for a summer. That shift alone does more to make the publication feel alive than any layout change could on its own.
