When approached by the curators of the GloryGlory exhibition in London to contribute a typographic poster based on a football chant, we were instantly intrigued. Being football fans ourselves, supporting the local team IFK Göteborg, we soon chose the chant ’Alla heter Glenn i Göteborg’ (Everyone’s called Glenn in Gothenburg).
In Gothenburg, Glenn is a very common name. In the early 1980s IFK Göteborg had no fewer than four players named Glenn, including internationally renowned players Glenn Hysén and Glenn Strömberg. ‘Alla heter Glenn i Göteborg’ was originally an offensive chant sung by supporters of opposing teams facing IFK Göteborg. However, the chant was soon adopted by the IFK Göteborg supporters, much to their opponents dismay.
Our poster includes the full name of everyone named Glenn living in Gothenburg. All names were collected from the National Registration and have been split into two groups on opposite sides of the football field, mimicking the supporters on the stands of an actual game. The colour of the poster could only be blue and white - the official colours of IFK Göteborg - popularly called Blåvitt (Blue & White) and the specific colour chosen was PMS 072U, commonly referred to as Klein blue.
The poster was screen printed on high quality paper in a limited run of 100 copies by Dan Mather in London and is available for purchase through the ll’Editions webshop.
