Designing Romanian 2025–2026 football kits (Part 1)
In January 2024, the Romanian Football Federation approached me to propose designs for the new home shirt, to be used in the 2026 World Cup European Qualifiers.
Joma, the official kit supplier and manufacturer, had already prepared some designs — but they didn’t resonate with the Federation. So, they reached out to a few Romanian designers, including myself (based on my work I have doing with ORF — this blog), and asked us to come up with fresh concepts based on a creative brief.
The brief gave us three clear directions:
- Reimagine the 1994 World Cup kit
- Create a modern look aligned with the national brand identity
- Propose something out-of-the-box
My design directions were selected out of several submissions, and from there, we worked together to develop the final kits that were launched in March 2025.
I’m sharing the full process here — not just the visuals, but also the thinking behind each concept. If you’re a Romanian football fan, I believe you deserve to know the “why” behind what the national team wears.
The project officially started on January 14, 2024, and the final design was approved in May. I’ve broken the story into three parts:
- Phase 1: The Concept — how the ideas came together
- Phase 2: The Process — how the design evolved
- Phase 3: The Outcome — what made the final cut
You’ll see all the concepts I presented — which ones were chosen, which ones were dropped. Honestly, this project was about 50% design and 50% stakeholder management. I had to pick my battles.
One battle I did choose was getting everything centred in the home shirt design. One I didn’t fight was for blue shorts and red socks. You’ll see why in Phase 2.
Phase 1: The Concept
The first stage of developing concepts and ideas took around three weeks. During this time, I collaborated closely with the Romanian Football Federation through two online meetings and several email exchanges.
Our first contact, outside few email exchanges, was on January 19, 2024. This was a scheduled call to discuss project costs and present a continuation of my first ideas I have sent to them via email couple of days before.
Ahead of the first video meeting, I put together a moodboard — both to guide my creative process and to serve as a visual aid during our conversation. It helped set the tone and spark ideas for what the new kit could become.
Below you will see my conceptual thinking. My initial ideas and how I planned to present them to the Romanian Football Federation.
Starting with a moodboard
As on of the biggest collector of Romania national team shirts(see my Instagram collection page), I already had a vision of how I wanted my ideal national team shirt to look. To kick things off, I built a moodboard that would help guide my direction and tell a compelling story to the Romanian Football Federation.
I started by creating two slides filled with only key words — these would act as anchors for the concept and help shape the narrative behind the design.
As a Romanian living abroad, I’ve always felt that our national team shirt should represent more than just a piece of comfortable sportswear — it should reflect something distinctly ours. That’s why I’ve long been drawn to the idea of using tourism as a theme in the design.
Football is a global language, and when people around the world watch Romania play, there’s a rare opportunity to spark curiosity — not just about the team, but about the country itself. In my travels, I’ve often met people (especially outside Europe) who know little or nothing about Romania. And let’s be honest, our global tourism promotion could be stronger. So I saw this project as a chance to turn the shirt into a conversation starter about Romania’s culture and beauty.
One theme that kept standing out was architecture in Bucharest. It’s always trending, and for good reason — the city is a unique blend of styles: old meets new, brutalism meets tradition, chaos meets charm. That eclectic mix felt like a perfect foundation for a visual story. So, in my early moodboards, I leaned heavily into architecture as the core inspiration.
Using ChatGPT
As part of the moodboard process, I also experimented with ChatGPT to help generate visual ideas. I fed it prompts based on the keywords I mentioned earlier — mostly around architecture and visual patterns from Bucharest, like the metro system, iconic buildings, and cultural festivals.
While the results weren’t groundbreaking, the tool still played an unexpected role. It helped me see what not to pursue. Some of the AI-generated visuals felt off or too generic, which actually sharpened my own direction. It became clear which ideas lacked depth — and that insight helped me refocus.
From there, I started broadening the theme: exploring nature-inspired prompts like the Carpathian Mountains, or diving into cultural references such as Brâncuși’s design language. These directions opened up new creative paths I hadn’t initially considered.
Listening to Others
The next step in my process was to organize an online group discussion with friends living in Romania — especially those who weren’t die-hard football fans or deeply into current kit trends. I wanted honest, unbiased feedback. Instead of doing one-on-one calls, I set it up more like a moderated focus group, making sure I had a mix of voices from different regions, age groups, and professions.
Between January 15 and January 25, I spoke with around seven friends through online meetings, asking them what Romanian football means to them — not just the team, but the emotions, the memories, and what they’d like to see represented on a shirt.
I shared some of the visuals generated through ChatGPT, using them as a conversation starter. I wanted to understand how people outside the football bubble perceived the designs — and more importantly, what the national team shirt meant to them in 2023.
Up to that point, I’d poured a lot of energy into the process. But I realised I was starting to design for myself, not necessarily for the public. These conversations helped me take a step back and see the bigger picture.
Between this feedback and my experiment with ChatGPT, one thing became clear: some directions weren’t worth pursuing. Ideas like “natural textures” didn’t resonate. They looked cool, but they didn’t feel Romanian. That insight became one of the most valuable turning points in shaping the final concept.
Setting Boundaries
As the first video meeting with the Federation approached, I had to prepare a summary of my approach. I wanted to walk them through my moodboard — including the keywords, the insights from ChatGPT, and what they could expect from working with me if they decided to move forward working with me.
But just as important as showing what I would explore was making it clear what I wouldn’t. I believe that setting boundaries upfront builds trust and transparency.
One example: I chose not to pursue traditional Romanian motifs. While they’re often seen as a go-to solution for “designing something Romanian,” they felt too easy, too safe — and not aligned with my design style. I didn’t want to lean on clichés. My goal was to bring something fresh, unexpected, and meaningful, not just decorative.
So I added a dedicated section in my moodboard explaining why I wasn’t including those elements — to make sure the Federation understood my reasoning from the start.
Summary
At the end of my moodboard, I consolidated some bullet points outlining the direction I would follow and I cropped images highlighting specific details I would focus on. Here’s how it looked:
This was my full moodboard that I had created digitally ahead of the first meeting:
The First Meeting
It took me about a week to complete the moodboard and prepare for the first video meeting, outside email exchanges, with the Romanian Football Federation, which was scheduled for January 19th. The online session lasted around an hour and included seven participants, ending with a short Q&A.
Even though the main goal of the meeting was for me to provide a cost estimate, I chose to go beyond that. I presented my full moodboard, explained my thought process, outlined clear boundaries, and gave them a sense of what working with me would look like. They weren’t expecting that level of detail — but for me, it was essential to set the tone and clarify expectations from the start.
When it came to compensation, I kept it simple: I asked for tickets to Romania’s home games during the World Cup qualifiers — plus two match-worn shirts featuring the shirt I would be designing. No monetary fee.
The next day, they followed up with a short call to thank me for the presentation. They also asked if I could send in a few updated design proposals based on the creative brief I had received the week before.
They mentioned that they particularly liked the Bucharest architecture concept — calling it an “out-of-the-box” idea — but also wanted to see two additional directions: a reimagined version of the iconic 1994 kit and a modern design built around the Federation’s current brand identity.
Next step: turning ideas from my moodboard into visuals.
Visual Mockups
Right after the initial meeting, I went into full ideation and brainstorming mode for about a week. I knew the next step was to translate my ideas into something visual — and not just rough sketches, but polished concepts that the Federation could actually picture on the pitch.
To do that, I purchased highly detailed and fully customizable football shirt mockups to use in Photoshop. I wanted to present the designs in a way that looked as close to real-life as possible — not just flat illustrations, but something they could immediately connect with.
I ended up buying the mockups from Yellow Images, which provided the flexibility and realism I needed for the presentation:
While I was building the moodboard and doing my research, one design detail I felt strongly about early on was the collar: I wanted a round collar. It was a conscious choice — clean, classic, and gender-neutral. It felt right for a modern national team shirt that should look just as good on the street as it does in the stadium.
When it comes to working with clients or stakeholders, I like to keep things simple: set clear ground rules, keep communication open, and deliver clear, polished designs as early as possible. It sounds obvious, but over time I’ve realized that what feels like common sense to me often isn’t the norm. In a way, I’ve learned that part of my job is to reduce stress by giving people confidence that they’ll get exactly what they need.
That’s why I never present sketches or pen-and-paper drawings. I don’t do wireframes either — not for kits, not for apps. I prefer to show people something close to the final thing from the start. There’s a common belief that wireframes are helpful because they keep people from focusing on details like fonts and colors too early. But in my experience, they often just reflect poor communication.
My first visual concepts based on the brief I received:
Direction 1
Reinterpretation of the 1994 World Cup kit
Brief:
The National Team will start at the beginning of 2025 the qualification
campaign for the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in America.The reinterpretation of the design from 1994, when we achieved the
greatest results in the history of the National Team, should blend the
nostalgic sentiment with the contemporary era that we live in, providing
a jersey that inspires both players and fans, and remains in tune with
the evolution of sports fashion.The lines on the jersey should be reinterpreted in a modern way to
avoid association with the Adidas brand. The reinterpretation of the
three lines could include modern, contemporary elements or, why not,
Romanian cultural or historical motifs, such as folklore patterns or
national symbols. The patterns could and should also be continued on
the short and socks
My first concepts:
Rationale behind my concept:
I personally did not want to associate my concept design with 1994 kit. But in order to be on brief I kind placed it under this direction in my presentation. Here are some words to support my choice:
“In the middle of the golden field, a triangle rises — sharp, intentional, and full of meaning.
This shape isn’t random. It’s a symbol. A ray of movement, cutting through stillness. The deep navy flows upward into light blue, like night giving way to dawn — a quiet nod to renewal, to ambition, to starting again with clarity. At the base, red — raw, grounded, full of fire. The kind that doesn’t ask for attention, but commands it.
The triangle mirrors what I placed at the core of the shirt’s design: not repetition, not balance for balance’s sake, but momentum. A break in the expected. A shift forward.
You don’t see the tricolor laid out traditionally here. Instead, you feel it, distilled into energy and direction. The blue and red stand guard on either side — like two flags raised at sunrise — anchoring the bright center, without needing a third stripe to explain themselves.
It’s Romania, in motion. Not frozen in history, but shaped by it.”
If you take a closer look at my original moodboard, you’ll notice it included several Romanian shirts from the early ‘90s — specifically from 1991, 1992, 1994, and 1996.
It was while studying these shirts that I began to notice a recurring visual theme — something subtle, but consistent enough to build on: triangles.
Those kits weren’t just nostalgic — they held design DNA that felt authentic to Romania’s football identity. That’s where the core visual idea for this project began to take shape. I wasn’t trying to replicate the past — but rather, to extract a shared language from it. A language that can be used beyond the shirt. Advertisements, banners, social media etc.
The triangles became more than just a graphic — they became the foundation for how I approached this entire design.
Direction 2
Modern approach in line with the brand book Identity
Brief:
Adopting a modern approach and integrating visual elements from the
brand book, such as the shield, the eagle, or the symbol of the five
national regions.The design should represent a modern approach to the national crest
and the graphic representation of the adapted symbols of the five
Romanian provinces, as presented in the brand book.Whether referring to the shield itself, the eagle, which is the
representative figure of the Romanian shield, or the national symbols
reflecting the country’s regions, these elements should stand out more on
the jersey through color or contour, not just embossed in the yellow
material of the shirt.
My first mockups:
Rationale behind design:
I had invested so much time and energy into the first direction that developing a second strong concept became a real challenge. For this version, I focused more on exploring the shirt as a canvas — experimenting with space and placement, seeing how the brandbook elements could live on it.
At one point, I looked at the arches of the National Arena stadium, wondering if I could weave them in, combining architectural identity with the existing design language. It was more of a structural study than a fully formed idea — an exercise in composition rather than concept.
Direction 3
The new generation approach — OUT OF THE BOX
Brief:
The design should be modern, innovative, resonating with the young
generation, conveying emotion, and reflecting the spirit of unity and the values
of this generation that has qualified for the Euro after an absence of 8 years.A modern, out-of-the-box approach, allowing for greater creative freedom.
The main kit should remain predominantly yellow; however, for the second/ third
kits, different creative concept can be developed, following a trend often seen in
other national teams.Mandatory to keep the logo as it is.
My first mockups:
The designs I proposed here were selected as pre-match shirt. But the shirt is not on sale yet so I am not going to share it now.
The Presentation That Got Me the Job
The slides above were part of a presentation (Version 2) I sent to the Federation to help them decide whether I should be the designer for Romania’s new national team shirt.
Initially, I shared a previous version (Version 1) that included a few early concepts based on the brief. Later, I followed up with this V2 — the slides you saw above and you will see again below— which added more detailed visuals, including full kit mockups and back-of-shirt designs.
When I started working on these visuals, I had to follow the UEFA Equipment Regulations, which include several design constraints (you can find the full guidelines here). That meant I had to be smart about the creative direction — I couldn’t just design something for aesthetics alone.
My final concepts leaned heavily on color-blocking and smart use of space, within the boundaries allowed by UEFA. Based on the presentation slides above, the Federation selected me to design Romania’s kits for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. Not just the home shirt. But the away as well. They picked the Direction 2 variant for away and third. While Direction 3 was chosen for pre-match. While Direction 1-with triangles was picked as the home shirt.
To be honest, I don’t think it was the designs alone that got me the job. From what I understood, they saw potential not just in the visuals, but in the way I worked, structured my ideas, and communicated clearly. They were looking for someone who could manage the entire process, including communication with other stakeholders — and they believed I could take on that responsibility long-term.
I got the official confirmation that my designs had been selected on February 14th, 2024. That’s when things became real. Now it was time to collaborate, get feedback, and start shaping the final kits together.
Together with this email I also got the Romanian Football Federation brand book. Originally published in 2017 it had all the colors values that I had to use in my design going forward.
Version 1 of my presentation that I sent to them and helping decide if they should work with me:
Version 2 of my presentation that landed me the project
This story only covers the beginning — the foundation, the concepts, the explorations. But the journey didn’t end here.
In Phase 2 — my next chapter — I’ll dive into what happened after the initial concepts: the iteration process that led to the final version, my meeting with Joma, sport clothes manufacturing company, in Toledo, the UEFA approval, and the challenges along the way.
-> Designing Romanian 2025–2026 football kits (Part 2)
In Phase 3, I’ll close the loop with the final story: how the shirt was received by the fans at launch, the constructive feedback I gathered, the things I would have done differently, and the unseen challenges. That post will come out in June or July, right before (or after) the UEFA Under-21 Championship in Slovakia, where these shirts will be worn.
I post stories about Romania shirts on Instagram.
If you want to get in touch with me you can find me there: https://www.instagram.com/onromanianfootball
