Work

Champs Ring

The history of sports championships, visualized.

Service
Visual Storytelling
Capabilities
A person holds a circular calendar poster. The calendar features colored sections and various country abbreviations. Additional images show a stack of printed posters on a pallet and a close-up of the colored sections with country labels.

Background

Hyperakt’s Deroy Peraza has loved sports since he was a little kid. It wasn’t just that he loved the games, he loved the numbers, the history and the team colors. He spent endless hours memorizing stats and drawing interpretations of team logos. He dreamed of being able to see the history of sports, and each team’s legacy within it, at a glance. Champs Ring is Deroy granting his 10-year-old self that wish.

A framed spiral chart is displayed against a brick wall. The chart details the progression of NFL playoff teams through a colorful circular bracket, highlighting different teams in various colors, with labels like SF, SD, and PIT.

A productive obsession

During the 2010 World Cup, Deroy was glued to the screen watching the games. It wasn’t a very productive month, so he decided to make a poster to document the games. The result was a World Cup radial bracket poster which we printed with the help of Kickstarter supporters. The project was overwhelmingly successful and it was featured on over 100 sites including the New York Times, GOOD Magazine, Apartment Therapy & Dwell Magazine. The radial bracket also graced the front page of Berlin’s largest newspaper, the Berliner Morgenpost on the weekend of the final. The poster has since been featured in design and soccer exhibitions at the Cité du Design in Saint-Etienne, France and the MuVIM (Valencia’s Illustration Museum) in Spain.

A person holding a Berliner Morgenpost newspaper. The main article features a colorful circular infographic with text in German. The background shows a brick wall and partial view of an indoor setting with sunlight.
Front page of Berliner Morgenpost showcasing weekend decision for sports event. Central circular graphic features various countries in blue, red, and yellow segments. Headlines and articles surround the graphic with images of individuals, text, and advertisements.

From one to many

Champs Ring sprang from that original World Cup poster and aims at artfully capturing the entire history of sports championships using radial brackets. There are now over 500 playoff brackets and counting on the site including every season of NCAA Basketball, MLB Baseball, NBA Basketball, NHL Hockey, NFL Football, MLS Soccer, FIFA Men’s World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Men’s Olympic Basketball, Men’s Olympic Football, UEFA Euro, and Champions League.

A framed poster displays a collection of colorful circles, each representing different years, arranged in a grid on a white background. The image shows a close-up of the circles on the left and the full poster against a brick wall on the right.

The Champs Ring shop

You can now buy your own little slice of sports history, too. Poster size fine-art prints of the brackets are available for sale. Each radial bracket is hand-crafted with love in Brooklyn by Hyperakt and beautifully printed on 100% cotton rag 200gsm fine art paper. Enjoy, fellow sports geeks.

A split image showing a colorful circular infographic on the left, detailing a sports tournament bracket, and the same infographic framed and displayed on a brick wall on the right. The chart includes various team names and progresses toward a central winner.
A photography exhibit features abstract art pieces on the wall, a red t-shirt on a hanger with text, a white shelf displaying a vinyl record case and a soccer ball. In the foreground, a foosball table with colorful players is partially visible.
A colorful circular bracket diagram showing the 2013 NBA playoffs. Teams and their progressions are represented in various colors around the circle. On the right, the bracket is framed and hung on a white brick wall. "2013 NBA Playoffs" text is at the bottom.
A smartphone with a custom white case featuring a colorful circular diagram on the back. The diagram is segmented and includes various colored sections with abbreviations and dates, titled "2011 MLB Postseason.
Two circular objects on a wooden surface: The left one is a colorful wheel chart detailing the 2011/2012 UEFA Champions League, segmented with various teams and stages. The right one is white with the text "2011/2012 UEFA Champions League" and a logo.
A framed print showcases a series of colorful circular designs representing World Cup tournaments from various years. Each circle is divided into segments with labeled information, and the background is a white wall with a brick pattern.
A small, cozy bedroom with light-colored walls features a wooden wardrobe, a white and wooden desk with books and a pinboard, and wall-mounted white shelves filled with books. A single bed with a colorful patterned duvet, drawers underneath, and a window with beige blinds completes the room.
A circular diagram displaying the 2012 MLB postseason bracket. Teams are labeled in segments: wild card matchups, division series, league championship series, and World Series. The San Francisco Giants (SFG) are at the center, indicating they won the World Series.
An open book displays a colorful circular chart featuring various sports team abbreviations such as LAL, DAL, DEN, and HOU arranged in a radial pattern. Small text paragraphs are visible around the chart on the page.

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