The Champions League final is the most viewed annual sporting event in the world. Real Madrid’s triumph at Wembley in 2024 was watched by 135 million people worldwide, with the final’s global reach estimated at 450 million, including engagement across digital sites, apps and social media. Central to each final, is its unique brand identity which draws on the host city’s heritage and culture to create a distinctive look for the event.
TwelfthMan has been commissioned by UEFA to create the brand for the final in Munich, where we teamed up with local artist Miriam Ganser to create an eye-catching design inspired by her passion for the city’s street art and based around her concept of the Bavarian capital as an ‘Urban Playground’. Here TwelfthMan creative director Michael Berthon explains the creative process behind the Munich 2025 identity.
What excited you most about this project?
The standard solution to big sports event branding is to use tourist landmarks and other recognisable points of interest to promote the city. UEFA, however, take the innovative approach of inviting a local artist to contribute to create the key visual. The result is a more personal and original take on the city. As the lead-agency, we’re not looking for a commercial illustrator to follow a brief, but rather an artist with a conceptual side to their work, someone who can bring ideas to the table as well as a visual style.
What drew you to Miriam Ganser’s work? Why was she chosen?
We were drawn to Miriam’s playful style, which is perhaps at odds with the expectation that the Champions League is very serious and conservative. We also liked the diversity of her work. She’s a multimedia artist who blends a variety of physical and digital techniques. Plus, she has strong connections with the city. She’s a Munich resident, a lecturer at the IFOG Akademie and involved in the local street art festivals. UEFA has been involving local artists in the Champions League final branding since 2019, and she’s the first woman to be selected. We felt that that was a timely milestone.
We asked Miriam to propose a couple of creative concepts, exploring different aspects of the city which she might want to portray in the artwork. We were immediately drawn to one called ‘Urban Playground’. The concept marries together the sporting narrative of the Champions League final with street art references in Miriam's work. The street art scene is a side of Munich that international fans might not be familiar with and provides a refreshing alternative to more traditional Bavarian iconography and buildings.
