In September last year,Jason Klaas,a project manager with a Sydney-based creative firm Witekite,had an intense brain-storming session with his excited,15-member team. The job at hand was to design a logo for the 2011 cricket World Cup to be jointly hosted by India,Pakistan,Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Though no one in the group was from the host nations,the consensus was that the final product should have a splash of bright,vibrant colours that symbolise South Asia,and cricket in the region. Their effort a multi-coloured cricket ball with a prominent seam was unveiled in Mumbai on Tuesday. The selection was tough. We were up against 12 other companies from countries such as UK,South Africa,India and Dubai, the 39-year-old Klaas told The Indian Express from Sydney. A week after our presentation to the ICC,host nations and signage specialists (in November),we had got the good news. The logo has been a closely guarded secret since then. After deciding a colour scheme,Klaas and his team got down to other details. The idea was to bring out the passion and madness that the game triggers in the Asian countries. We had to convey the energy among the fans in the stands and the action on the field, he said. As a part of their research work,they spoke to academics involved in South Asian studies,met some expatriates from the sub-continent in Australia,and called up fans in the host nations. The research helped us to get a feel of cricket in the sub-continent. The fans spoke about how watching cricket was a festive celebration for them,so we had to get that mood in the logo, Klaas said. After several weeks of designing,the atmosphere was captured by silhouettes of batsmen,bowlers,fielders and a cheering fans around the seam of a cricket ball. The green seam-up ball is the turf,and the figures around it symbolise the action and excitement of a cricket match in the sub-continent, Klaas explained. At first look,the symbols on the logo with a dash of pink,red,yellow,green and blue seem like the floral engraving typically found on ancient monuments in the host nations,which largely share a common heritage. We visited museums with artifacts from the sub-continent so that the logo gives a local feel, he said,adding that the attempt was an easy connect for locals and instant association for outsiders. Klaas said the team ensured their design did not unknowingly offend people in the sub-continent. We were aware that this was very important for the region, he said. We constantly checked and re-checked to make sure we didnt hurt local sentiment in any way.
