Ahead of evoPOWER MB45 launch we went backstage with PUMA to see first hand how they put together the campaign artwork for Mario Balotelli's first signature boot.

Once a boot is created and signed off it's passed over to the creative department who create the storm. The boot is the key attraction, the main event, it's the design teams job to shout about it, communicate the message, get the punters to roll up and become a part of the show.

The creative minds at PUMA told us "We were initially shown CAD drawings of the boot and some mood board imagery associated with the story behind the design and player. From this we discussed what the key aspects of this one off boot would need to feature with in the launch artwork. It was clear from the outset that Mario's allegiance with his home country, Italy, was very important to him and a nod to this would have to be present. Being a Balotelli signature boot it made sense to use an image of the man himself and some of the quotes that he had chosen to go on the boot eluding to his characterful nature."

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It wasn't all plain sailing though as the team had to work against a ticking clock; "We had just under a week to go from early concepts to campaign launch artwork. It was going to be a challenge but one that we were more than up for undertaking, especially as the boot looked so awesome. Luckily we were supplied existing imagery of Mario and the boots arrived the day after our initial briefing so we got the photography aspect nailed nice and early."

"After presenting back numerous options, it was decided that the strongest concept was the one where the quote was projected across the face with the vibrancy of the colour in the boots making up the background. A few colour tweaks, logos added and we were done!"

Take a closer look at the PUMA evoPOWER MB45 boots here. What do you think of the artwork & boots? As always, drop us a line below.