About us | Colors Cup

In early 2025, the idea for the Colors Cup was born at a kitchen table. It became an esports event designed as an inclusive space from the very beginning.

From the kitchen table to the stage

At the kitchen table

The idea for the Colors Cup was born at a kitchen table in early 2025. In an intense conversation, Anna Maria Russi and her adult sons Gianluca and Leandro reflected on their many years of experience in the international esports scene.

They talked about major tournaments and strong communities, but also about exclusion, discrimination, and the lack of safe spaces in the digital world. This honest exchange shaped a shared attitude and, from there, a new concept.

Three perspectives

From the beginning, the Colors Cup has been designed as an inclusive space. Inclusion is not an add-on, but the foundation. The strength of the project lies in its personal and professional multi-perspective approach.

Leandro contributes professional esports experience and direct access to the community.
Gianluca adds analytical expertise, strategic thinking, and a structural perspective.
Anna Maria Russi combines these impulses with educational expertise and experience in participatory project development.

The result is a unique concept in which scene experience, analytical clarity, and educational responsibility work together.

Access instead of symbols

At the Colors Cup, inclusion means concrete access instead of symbolic gestures. Barriers are deliberately removed. People, regardless of origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or social background, are actively included.

Through lived participation, participants become co-creators, and democratic values such as co-determination, fairness, and dialogue become tangible.

Access, freedom and peace

shape the Colors Cup. Gaming becomes a space for encounters at eye level and for togetherness that lives diversity as a strength.

The team

Anna Maria Russi

Founder

I am 52 years old, a state-certified educator, self-employed in coaching and workshops, and the founder of the Colors Cup together with my sons Leandro and Gianluca de Nittis. As a mother and as the daughter of migrant workers from southern Italy, different lifeworlds, cultural perspectives, and the experience of belonging and exclusion shape me in equal measure.

For many years, I worked in open child and youth work as well as outpatient youth welfare. My focus areas are intercultural competence, inclusive education, and participatory project development. I work resource-oriented and strengthen self-efficacy, responsibility, and social skills.

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Today, I support people and projects in coaching processes and workshops. I teach social and intercultural skills, support lived participation, and work systemically. A particular focus is awareness: consciously shaping discrimination-sensitive and safe spaces where diversity is lived respectfully.

I am actively involved in the city community and serve on the Foreigners' Advisory Council. Participation, dialogue, and respectful coexistence are, for me, lived responsibility.

Through my long-standing closeness to the gaming and esports scene, and as the mother of a professional esports player, I have experienced digital communities up close. I am convinced that digital spaces are social spaces and therefore educational spaces. Young people do not need bans there, but support, orientation, and shared mindfulness.

Inclusion, participation, and democratic values form the foundation of my work. My goal is to create access, remove barriers, and shape spaces where freedom, respect, and peace are a given, online and offline.

Leandro de Nittis

Founder

I am Leandro de Nittis, 21 years old and an esports player for more than four years, a passionate streamer and content creator, and founder of the Colors Cup.

Together with my mother Anna Maria Russi, I created an educational esports event that stands for inclusion, respect, and real community. In Wiesbaden, we are bringing a VALORANT tournament to the stage, along with an experience featuring music, food, and space for encounters.

The Colors Cup connects competition with togetherness and shows how strongly esports can bring people together.

Colors Cup Branding

How an idea became a logo – and the logo became a whole visual world between pop art and gaming.

The beginning

Because the Colors Cup was a new foundation, there was no logo and no visual identity at the beginning. That was exactly the opportunity to develop, from the ground up, a symbol that reflects the values of the project.

The requirements were clear: the logo needed to embody diversity, uniqueness, and inclusion, feel modern in a gaming environment, and work both digitally and on site across stages, streams, and print materials. It had to be recognizable, flexible to use, and closely connected to the idea behind the Colors Cup.

As with many major brands, the beginning was not about form, but meaning. Only by understanding the vision and the message could a visual identity emerge step by step, carrying the character of the project outward.

The idea

We wanted to create something real, something unique that is special in its own way. This also reflects the basic concept of the Colors Cup. Every person is unique and valuable exactly as they are.

While searching for suitable inspiration, we came across crystals. They are formed in nature in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. No crystal is the same as another, and yet each one is special and valuable in its own right. This quality symbolically fits the idea of inclusion and the diversity of people who come together at the Colors Cup.

At the same time, the many colors of crystals fit the name Colors Cup, while their individuality reflects the concept behind it. This was the point where the foundation emerged for us to turn this idea into a logo.

Shapes and variants

In the next phase, we experimented with different crystal shapes and icons. The goal was to develop a clear basic form that remains consistent and recognizable at its core, while adapting flexibly to different applications.

This resulted in three variants. A flat 2D version in which the individual surfaces are deliberately set slightly apart. This small gap makes the form feel lighter and also works well in digital applications. In addition, there is a 2D outline version that is reduced and modern and works especially well on dark or calm backgrounds.

The system is completed by a 3D version. Here, the actual depth of the crystal form becomes fully visible. It feels tangible and high-quality, making it perfect as the basis for a physical trophy.

Branding

The Colors Cup stands for energy, diversity, and expression, and that is exactly what the branding needed to reflect.

Once the basic form of the logo was defined, the next step was to build a visual world around it that fit the character of the Colors Cup. It quickly became clear that a classic, neutral style would not do the project justice.

Our choice fell on a pop-art-inspired look. Bold colors, clear contrasts, and a vivid visual language directly pick up the name Colors Cup and make diversity visible. At the same time, this style fits very well into the gaming world. Especially in the context of VALORANT, strong colors, clear forms, and striking contrasts feel familiar and fitting.

This created a harmony between pop art and gaming aesthetics. On one side, the artistic, colorful form of expression; on the other, the modern, dynamic aesthetic of esports. This exact combination captures the core of the Colors Cup and connects the topic of inclusion with the visual language of the gaming community.

We sincerely thank you for the trust placed in us and are very happy that we were able to contribute to the development of the Colors Cup project.

Federlight GmbH · hello@federlight.com · www.federlight.com