In reaction to Tonbridge Angels recent rebrand, Peter Etherington takes his scalpel to the Angels' crest design and looks at the world of football branding at large.
Most of the problem is giving a brief to a designer whose only knowledge of your business is a quick google of a website. The client brief given by an employee with similar knowledge of the business/ club history of “you do something, you know more about design than me” is where the problems start and finish. A modern, dynamic, forward thinking club like Bromley should have a logo and branding that reflects its ambition rather than an outdated crest from the 1930’s.
An excellent article. Your Tonbridge effort is astonishingly good - although I don't dislike the new TA logo. The angel has the right degree of ethereality (she's quite imposing, for an angel, more religious awe than might be expected from a footie badge) and bears the football as if wielding the severed head of a heretic.
Good article Mash. I've recently been through this with my Scottish club Ayr United, although that badge change was enforced by a legal challenge rather than a desire to modernise. They ran a competition and let the fans send in entries. The winning design was a circular rehash of the old shield crest but i think it's a winner. I also liked some of the other designs too, especially the anchor and Robert Burns ones.
People generally don't like change, which is funny as it's the only thing in life that's certain! I'm a big fan of the simple but glorious German club crests. Your Hannover 96s, your Borussia Dortmund's, your Werder Bremen's etc. Simple, bold and effective.
I noticed recently Nottingham Forest were celebrating 50 years of their simple but stand-out tree design. I bet the old skool Forest fans kicked up merry hell when that was released but now it's a symbol close to their hearts. The two European Cups probably helped!
I could go on, and on. Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday had some bold designs in the 80s that seem to have fallen by the wayside. Crystal Palace had an almost full rebrand under Malcolm Allinson which included changing their colours and their nickname. I thought The Glaziers was a blinding nickname... But their fans pretty much universally call them The Eagles these days. You don't hear many folk calling Chelsea "The Pensioners" these days either!
While I claim it was the HLU who popularised Bromley's Ravens nickname in the 90s, I'm sure we weren't the first Bromley fans to use it. Lillywhites has fallen into disuse these days other than for laughs.
Anyway, I could go on all day. On the train to Woking now. 😎🏁
Crest to Impress
Most of the problem is giving a brief to a designer whose only knowledge of your business is a quick google of a website. The client brief given by an employee with similar knowledge of the business/ club history of “you do something, you know more about design than me” is where the problems start and finish. A modern, dynamic, forward thinking club like Bromley should have a logo and branding that reflects its ambition rather than an outdated crest from the 1930’s.
An excellent article. Your Tonbridge effort is astonishingly good - although I don't dislike the new TA logo. The angel has the right degree of ethereality (she's quite imposing, for an angel, more religious awe than might be expected from a footie badge) and bears the football as if wielding the severed head of a heretic.
Good article Mash. I've recently been through this with my Scottish club Ayr United, although that badge change was enforced by a legal challenge rather than a desire to modernise. They ran a competition and let the fans send in entries. The winning design was a circular rehash of the old shield crest but i think it's a winner. I also liked some of the other designs too, especially the anchor and Robert Burns ones.
People generally don't like change, which is funny as it's the only thing in life that's certain! I'm a big fan of the simple but glorious German club crests. Your Hannover 96s, your Borussia Dortmund's, your Werder Bremen's etc. Simple, bold and effective.
I noticed recently Nottingham Forest were celebrating 50 years of their simple but stand-out tree design. I bet the old skool Forest fans kicked up merry hell when that was released but now it's a symbol close to their hearts. The two European Cups probably helped!
I could go on, and on. Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday had some bold designs in the 80s that seem to have fallen by the wayside. Crystal Palace had an almost full rebrand under Malcolm Allinson which included changing their colours and their nickname. I thought The Glaziers was a blinding nickname... But their fans pretty much universally call them The Eagles these days. You don't hear many folk calling Chelsea "The Pensioners" these days either!
While I claim it was the HLU who popularised Bromley's Ravens nickname in the 90s, I'm sure we weren't the first Bromley fans to use it. Lillywhites has fallen into disuse these days other than for laughs.
Anyway, I could go on all day. On the train to Woking now. 😎🏁
Reminds me of the Starbucks logo
Apologies for any who did not get the full article via the emailer. It is now updated via the web link or via notes.