How do you capture a nation’s heartbeat for the World Cup stage?
Jersey design Ljubljana projects rarely reach World Cup scale. We distilled Slovenia’s Triglav mountain into a heart symbol that Nike placed at the center of the national team’s official World Cup jersey design Ljubljana audiences and international fans could both understand.
Client: Nike
The brief
Nike invited designers worldwide to create graphics for their countries’ World Cup jerseys. We needed something that spoke to fans in Ljubljana and viewers in São Paulo equally — a symbol that could carry Slovenia’s identity without relying on obvious flag colors or tourist imagery.
The symbol
We carved Triglav’s silhouette into a heart that pulses with national pride. The iconic three peaks became a bold graphic that worked at jersey scale, with our claim “Srce bije za Slovenijo” printed inside every official jersey.
Outcome
Slovenia’s national team carried our symbol to the World Cup stage. The design made national sentiment visible — turning geography into heartbeat on football’s global platform.
Symbol design · Jersey graphics · Sneaker graphics · National campaign
Triglav’s three peaks carved into a heart that works at jersey scale and national scale.
The Why was immediate: Nike’s brief demanded a symbol that could speak to Ljubljana locals and São Paulo viewers without falling into flag colors or tourist clichés. The What became Triglav’s silhouette distilled into a heart — Slovenia’s highest peak transformed into something that could pulse with national pride on a World Cup stage. The How required surgical precision: carving those iconic three peaks into a form that read as both mountain and heart, bold enough for television cameras and meaningful enough for fans who know what Triglav represents. The Values were clarity over complexity and authentic symbolism over safe choices.
The Design succeeds because it refuses to explain itself — the heart works immediately, the mountain reveals itself to those who know. I kept the form brutal and direct because jersey graphics die when they try to be subtle. The Story is a nation’s geography becoming its heartbeat, readable whether you are standing in Kranj or watching from across the world. Nike placed it at the center of the official kit because it worked as pure symbol — no translation required.
