Electric Signs

Light up Johannesburg

Largest interactive LED installation in Africa allows sports fans to write their own headlines.

Published

14 years ago

June 24, 2010

Susan Conner Signs of the Times June 2010 Issue

At 30 stories and 453 ft. high, the Southern Life Center is the fourth tallest in Johannesburg. Nike Football (translated to “soccer” for non-fans such as this writer) picked the building as the backdrop for its World Cup-related, interactive, digital-communications experience. The Johannesburg display is part of Nike’s Write the Future campaign. The screen comprises 207,520 individual LEDs.
The 144 x 138-ft. LED screen, almost half a football pitch in size at 90,417 sq. ft., allows fans to write their own headlines. The personal messages, meant to inspire favorite players, are transformed into a huge player animation.
Fans can submit a 57-character personal message through Facebook.com/nikefootball, Twitter (#NikeFuture), Facebook (Facebook.com/nikefootball), Mxit (South Africa) and QQ (China) to more than 50 of Nike’s athletes from around the world. Up to 100 headlines are selected each night and transformed into the projected, player animations. Fans whose messages are shown receive notification that shows the headline and animation created from it. To see the giant display, visit go.nike.com/nikefuture.

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