Chinese tea · felt, chain stitch, arched letters
Thirty-four Chinese teas set in arched varsity letters, chenille felt and gold chain stitch, with the leaf held inside the initials the way a badge holds a photograph.
7 teas · 5 categories
Varsity graphics exist to make a name readable from the far side of a field, and they do the same job for a tea whose name is unfamiliar: initials first, the full name on an arch behind them, the region on a small banner underneath. The leaf is knocked into the open counters of the letters, so photograph and lettering share one space instead of stacking into two. Every texture is a garment texture — chenille felt with a stitched border, chain stitch in gold, dotted stitch along the ribbons — because this artwork has to survive being embroidered and not only printed. Navy, cream and one brick red are held across the whole set, so thirty-four different leaf colours still read as one team. The crest carries a teapot rather than an animal, and the year on it is the year of this study rather than a claim about any club. The halftone fade inside the letters comes from old match-programme printing, and it keeps the flat colours from looking like plain vector fills.