IBM Sports and Entertainment Partnerships | Scuderia Ferrari HP / UFC
How could IBM’s refined design language express the raw energy of Scuderia Ferrari HP and the UFC?
IBM’s partnerships with Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Masters are legendary. For years, BUCK has helped shape the visual language for each, positioning IBM as a leader in data-driven storytelling. The team at SEP and IBM Blue Studio asked us to help define their two newest partnerships: Scuderia Ferrari HP (Ferrari’s Formula 1 racing team) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Both partnerships represented a new narrative challenge for IBM. Unlike short tournament windows, the F1 season is a longer engagement through the year. Our output had to feel varied enough to sustain focus throughout the season. We navigated SFHP’s many other partnerships with care, and designed a solution that used a riot of Ferrari and IBM colors to celebrate the passion of the tifosi, SFHP’s renowned fandom.
Where past engagements lent themselves to clear iconography (e.g. blue tennis ball = US Open), F1 is filled with complex, specialized geometries. We represented racing and forward motion with a minimal wing shape that derived its form and materiality from Ferrari’s F1 car, that remained distinct enough for IBM to own.
For UFC, the goal was to uncover the hidden data stories inside a sport that can look chaotic to the untrained eye. We took the base form of the Octagon and abstracted MMA fights into games of strategy – with fighters represented as weighted tiles that collided, stacked, and vied for dominance, creating chains of cause and effect between them.
The SEP portfolio continues to expand, and we’re excited to have been in dialogue with these storied institutions, and in IBM, a partner who’s championed design excellence for almost a century.
Credits (BUCK):
Executive Creative Director: Ben Langsfeld
Group Creative Directors: Jon Gorman, Michelle Higa Fox
Executive Producer: Kitty Dillard
Creative Director: Eric Chang
Producer: Alexi Yeldezian
NY Head of 3D: Bill Dorais
NY Head of 2D Animation: Tucker Klein
NY Head of Design: Max Vogel
Art Director: Diego Morales
3D Lead: Taylor James
2D Animation Lead: Sean Merk
Design: Jose Flores, Sam Lee, Heewon Kim, Tinghe Yang, Shitong Lyu
3D Design/Animation: Jesseter Wang, Duncan DeMichiel, Jacky Jackson, Morad Enayet, Danesh Taraporevala, Seba Morales, Kathy Yu
2D Animation: Meitar Almog, Hannah Sun
[Full credits tk]