Diego Maradona: a lesson in visual communication
How an illusion can be more powerful than the truth.
N.B. The visual theme of this article should still strike a chord, even if you hate football.
The photo
It blew my mind the first time I laid eyes on this image of Diego Maradona taking on the Belgium defence. It was such a powerful visual to comprehend.
How could so many opponents mark one player?
Who was marking the rest of the Argentinian team?
What did he do next?
The illusion
There is no doubt Diego Armando Maradona was one of the best players ever to grace a football pitch, and this image just adds to his legacy.
Six Belgium defenders stand there in awe, ready to take their turn to stop him… However, Maradona looks unstoppable and ready to waltz straight through them.
There’s a famous saying in photography…
…that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Well, this one of Maradona must be worth thousands; it’s the perfect brand image for Diego himself, casually poised and ready to dance rings around the Belgium national team. But it communicates much more than that…
“Ultimately it’s not about the composition; it’s not about art; it’s not about that particular game; it transcends that. It’s about communication. It communicates the power of Maradona and the fear he instilled. It’s about this one man and the relationship he had with opposing players.” — Steve Powell, photographer
Image is everything in communication and brand, and this one-shot had me sucked in (up until reading the real story behind the photo, it would have done much longer).
You could show this photo to any football fan, and they would just get it; they’ll be able to understand the exceptional talent of Diego Maradona without explanation; 10, 15, 20 years from now.
“If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera.” — Lewis Hine
It communicates who Diego Maradona was in a few seconds without needing an essay.
More like a well-crafted poster than an actual moment in time.
The truth
When I found out the truth about the photo, I initially felt cheated. The shot wasn't authentic; it could even pass as a fake (like those UFO shots over Texas).
Six Belgian players weren’t marking Maradona; he’d just received the ball from his teammate, Ossie Ardilles.
The players in the shot were part of the Belgian defensive wall that had formed to defend the free-kick.
The photo had just been captured at the perfect angle, at the right moment in time, to give the illusion that the defenders were there to commence battle with Maradona.
Argentina even lost the game 1–0, and Maradona had played a stinker.
We’d been cheated.
Maradona hadn't planned for the shot. Instead, he'd just received the pass and controlled the ball.
So it wasn’t as if he’d commissioned the photo; if he had, it could have played its part in a well-formulated marketing strategy.
The perfect shot.
Everyone can make their own assumptions about what action followed (he actually tried to chip the ball over the wall, but the Belgians cleared it).
But, even knowing the truth behind the photo, we can still believe that he somehow manages to change the past and slalom through the sea of red, before casually slipping the ball effortlessly past the goalkeeper. As he so often did.
Knowing nothing came from this moment isn’t how we want the story to end. That’s dull, uninspiring, and not what we want for our footballing hero.
We like to believe there’s a better ending.
The real power of visual storytelling is the belief.
The takeaway
Maradona was a mercurial talent, and some teams probably did mark him with six players (they probably still couldn’t stop him!).
A genuine photo without the illusion would have been fantastic; it would have been authentic… isn’t that what we all want?
Authenticity?
But, I guarantee that if that authentic image exists somewhere, it won't be as near perfect as this shot.
I feel this photo depicts Maradona more than any other shot of him; it’s the moment before true greatness hit (he captained Argentina to 1986 World Cup glory).
It's the calm before the storm; when he had all the potential but hadn't yet seen it through. It's the moment he took on six Belgian defenders before he then took on the WORLD.
It communicates Diego Maradona’s power before he became the powerful player we know.
Visual storytelling is vital, whatever product or brand you’re working on, and sometimes the illusion or the user’s perception tells a much better story than the truth ever does.
“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.” — Elon Musk
References
- 'The 'real story behind the famous image' written by Jonny Weeks (2014). http'://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jul/05/diego-maradona-belgium-famous-photo
Knowledge is power.
So keep learning, keep preparing, and keep listening.
