With our exposure to the game of football gradually increasing and with more money being pumped into it, it's no suprise our beloved football clubs are putting more effort into revamping their marketing and their own brand - many starting with the design of their logo or club crest.
Some Football Clubs have been established for over 100 years and their logos reflect this by using elements from the town's heritage. Nottingham Forest, for example, has a simple tree and river symbol in the club colours, a hat-nod to Sherwood Forest and the River Trent. It's important to revisit a logo and make small revisions over time, keeping it fresh and relevant, but does a club looking to rebrand for modern times redesign it's logo and aim to retain it's history? Should the new logo design reflect the future of football? Here are a few examples of what I believe to be of varying success.
Crest Fallen
I'm a West Bromwich Albion fan, so when the club announced it was redesigning its logo a year ago, I was full of excited anticipation and also jealousy that Dynamics Media hadn't been asked to do the job! I'm afraid to say I am a little embarrassed by the revamp. The main elements have all remained, but the Throstle (the Baggies lesser-known nickname) has changed from an established and stylish illustration to a childish cartoon. The inclusion of the WBA name looks forced and the outlines help the visibility, but only make it look more like the 'Junior Baggies'. The brief was obviously to simplify the crest, but it may have been taken too far.
Another football logo of interest to me is that of my home town, Northampton. The original Northampton logo design was a classic town crest showing, among other things, the demolished castle! With the club obviously struggling for some sort of identity, the logo never really inspired the Cobblers to success on the pitch, so a redesign was recently commissioned. The new design is much more defined in terms of type and colour, but the elements reused from the original don't work together in the chosen format and the football boot looks like an after-thought.
Badge of Honour
Two examples of what are, in my opinion, successful logo redesigns are shown below. Arsenal's logo underwent a revamp with the introduction of their new stadium. The cluttered original has been replaced with a very distinctive emblem that retains the main element and adds depth with the different tones and use of gold.
My Queens Park Rangers supporting friend James may not agree with me, but I like the ornate redesign that has also introduced the classic QPR blue hoops. The original, although a classic 'sticker-album' logo, looks like a seventies throw-back in comparison. The new version might not be to everyone's taste, but it offers a look back to the origins of club crests and might achieve some longevity for doing so.
The Good, The Bad and The Fulham
Swindon Town: Looks more like a logo for a suburban leisure centre.
Mansfield Town: I can imagine this logo hanging from a rough Nottinghamshire pub.
Fulham FC: More 'Harry Potter' than Harrods.
Manchester United: Strong, powerful and easy to read - just like Jaap Stam.
Norwich City: Great colours and an instantly recognisable club crest.
West Ham: A logo that strikes fear into the opposition.