Brentford Football Club

In 2016, as part of our ongoing work with the club, we completed a comprehensive project to redesign their crest, creating a more striking, simple and recognisable design that stays true to The Bees’ heritage.

Reasons to change

Although the previous crest naturally meant a lot to all Brentford fans, it also caused many challenges. There were two fundamental reasons why we needed to update it.

Firstly, its complicated design made it impractical to use, particularly at small sizes. It was designed in 1993 before the digital revolution and did not replicate well in online media and printed items.

Secondly, it had lots of elements within the crest which were fighting for attention. This contributed to the crest not being nearly as recognisable as other clubs’ crests. In an independent survey of football fans we found the crest to be significantly less recognisable than other London teams - among national and local respondents.

To solve these problems we developed a much more iconic design, which we believe strengthens the identity of the club.

Consultation process

Despite the issues with practicality and recognition, updating a club crest is never a decision that is taken lightly.

Over an 18 month period we engaged with the owner, and a range of fans and stakeholders. We also conducted one-to-one interviews and focus groups in order to understand everyone’s feelings towards the current crest and appetite for updating it.

As expected, we heard a wide range of opinions, but the vast majority of people were not attached to the current crest, and many were in favour of change.

Evolution not revolution

Over the course of the process we looked at historical crests for inspiration, and designed a range of options which we whittled down after conversations with fans and the senior leadership team.

What became clear was that including a bee was vital, as it most directly communicates who we are.

Everyone we spoke to agreed that it was important to include the year of our foundation in our new crest as the historic nature of the club is something the fans are rightly proud of.

The new crest draws most inspiration from the 1972-75 crest, and the 1960s Brentford Supporters Club badge.

Ready for anything

We designed the new crest to work effectively in a huge range of digital and physical applications — from app icons to above the entrance on their new stadium, in full colour, single colour and as a standalone graphic element