Brentford Football Club
It’s the most exciting time in the history of Brentford Football Club. Success on the pitch has been matched with innovation off it, and a brand new stadium awaits. At the dawn of a new era, it was time to evolve the club’s brand and align it with their ambitious mindset.
The Challenge
Remembering the past, but looking towards an exciting future
The previous brand was centred around the unique roots of Brentford; the loyal fanbase that stuck by them through tough times, the pubs on each corner of Griffin Park, and the down-to-earth nature of the club.
But while the club will never forget where they’ve come from, tomorrow has never been more exciting. With Brentford now firmly established as a Premier League, we wanted to create a brand that was more confident, ambitious, and future-focused.
Insight
Doing things differently
Over the past five years, the club has made some bold decisions that fly in the face of common footballing wisdom. This includes the appointment of two Directors of Football from very different backgrounds, and the closure of the club’s Academy in favour of a unique B-Team model. Both of which have proved hugely successful.
The club’s savvy recruitment policy is also the envy of Premier League and Championship teams across the country. Their focus on identifying and developing young players from the lower leagues and from Europe has reaped huge profits enabling the club to be on firm financial footing, and ever closer to their goal of being fully sustainable in the future.
Across the whole business, the culture is to innovate and maximise everything they do, in order to gain an edge on the competition. So we put this mantra at the centre of the brand.
Idea
Forward Thinking Football
Forward Thinking Football speaks to the exciting future that lies ahead. It’s a progressive philosophy that encourages innovation across the entire club, even if this means taking calculated risks.
It’s an idea that is relevant to what happens both on and off the pitch. From the attractive, attacking football that is now synonymous with the club, to growing and diversifying the loyal fanbase.
New era, new identity
The previous visual identity was developed prior to the redesign of the club crest. Our idea was to make the bee from the crest central to the new identity, whilst creating a more dynamic look and feel that aligns with the excitement and energy of Forward Thinking Football.
We developed a series of patterns inspired by the bee's wings, sting and stripes. Each pattern has the flexibility to be used in a number of ways, giving internal teams plenty of creative scope when developing assets.
The 'swarm'
To add another dimension to the patterns, we wanted to give each individual element the potential to move like it's part of a swarm of bees. This concept acts as a motion principle to showcase graphic elements and transition between messaging.
A sting in the tail
The typeface design was also inspired by the bee from the crest. We worked with typographer Marc Rouault to develop Sting, a bespoke typeface for the club.
Each character has sharp edges to reflect the design of the bee, while negative spaces within the letters have been designed to replicate the shape of the bee’s sting.
With the club in such an exciting period, it was the right time to look at refreshing the brand. Thisaway demonstrated a great understanding of where the club has been and where it is going. The result is a clear positioning that encapsulates our innovative, future-focused approach, matching our ambitions and targets both on and off the pitch. This was paired with a modern and dynamic brand identity which gives our internal teams huge flexibility across all our channels.
Project disciplines
Brand strategy, brand identity, tone of voice, campaigns & content, typeface design, animation, brand guardianship.
Project collaborators
Typeface design: Marc Rouault
Stadium photography: Matt Davis
Player photography: Official Brentford Pics