Courtney Lawes is a legend of the game. Over 275 Premiership appearances, 4 Rugby World Cups and 2 British & Irish Lions tours. He’s seen it all, and built a reputation not only as a hard-hitting athletic freak of nature, but also a generous and humble human being.
To do this, we took Courtney’s likeness and created an illustration that would be instantly recognised as the great man, and split the task in two. On the left, we incorporated the black, green and gold of his club colours. On the right, we used the white of England and the red of the British and Irish Lions.
Without Chris, this testimonial would not have been possible. AMB360 covered every task asked of them with absolute conviction, from graphic design to organising an event for 400 people. The general consensus is that this was the best testimonial ever produced.
Courtney Lawes
Granted a testimonial year after his 17 years service to the club, AMB360 were introduced to Courtney and asked to create a logo that encompassed a unique career at club, country and representative level, with a play on the ‘Holding Court’ name that players across the country will recognise from end of season celebrations.
To finish off, we took some elements of what people associate with the words ‘court’ and ‘justice’ – using a wreath to create a circular effect but switching the scales to a rugby ball to keep on the theme. This icon was then used across all of the testimonial branding as a centrepiece as a reminder of what Courtney has achieved during his career.
Throughout the course of the year, the Testimonial Committee hosted three events – black tie fundraisers at The Corinthia in London and Rushton Hall in Northamptonshire, and a mass gathering of fans at Courtney’s rugby home of Cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
The first of these in London saw AMB360 provide complete graphic design services – not only did we produce a 24 page event guide and a 16 page auction brochure, we also printed raffle tickets, table plans and event slide deck to give the event a unique feel but let the imagery of Courtney’s career take front and centre.
We also produced three videos to complement the evening – a documentary style shoot with Courtney’s family and a legend of the game, Will Carling, to showcase how unique Courtney is, a highlight reel of all of the greatest hits from 15 years in an England jersey, and a message montage from other greats of the game to wish Courtney well at the end of his international career.
With event two of the schedule being a fans event, we took up the mantle of producing from start to finish…
We produced an entire solution, creating bespoke ticketing packages and registration software, capturing data from all 400 attendees and any requirements they may have, and also producing an in-house auction site to raise vital funds for Courtney’s chosen charities. We completed the event management package by producing the stage, all event collateral and hosted the evening ourselves. With thousands of pounds raised, it was a massive success and received unilateral praise from stakeholders and attendees alike.
Finally, we moved to Rushton Hall, where we again provided complete event support and graphic design – with the main event being a 3 metre high and 6 metre wide stage printed in 17 different panels. We also supported the testimonial with another video package – this time of his Saints career – and our photography and videography solutions.
It was an incredible year. It’s not very often that you get to work with someone so well-respected by peers and public alike, and we’re thrilled that the testimonial raised such a staggering amount for two very deserving charities.
Our thanks go out to the Testimonial Committee for asking for our help.