Tips for enhancing your clubs brand
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any organization, and it’s no less true in sports. Branding gives your team a collective identity. It gives supporters something to rally behind. It combines your ethos, the team’s talent, and all the passion from its fans into a symbol that represents something greater than the sum of its parts. Branding is the backbone of a team: while coaches and athletes change, a brand holds strong.
But beware! Much like your game strategy, if you don’t start with a good plan, you’ll set yourself up to lose. Now that the game is fully experienced online, your club’s website, logo and media are more important than ever for engaging and growing your fanbase. Sadly many of the teams we come across are in desperate need of updating their online presence. You know that feeling when you see an outdated website and think “was this created in the 90s?!
The benefit of focusing online is that your audience can be infinitely large! Building a strong D2C (direct to consumer) merchandise business online can make all the difference. But what will go on those shirts and hats - your 10 year old logo? 😂😩
Examples & trends
Before diving into your brand, let's take a look at how some other sports brands have grown and trends to expect in 2020.
There are some great blog posts that show the growth of professional sports logos over the years and pulled some interesting ones below:
Source: All 30 NBA Logos
It’s very interesting to see how logos have become more abstract, flat, and in recent years have trended towards circles. Makes you wonder how much circular profile pictures might have played a role in recent designs
According to 99designs, a popular logo design website, the top logo design trends of 2020 are:
We love the 80’s throwback vibe and think it could make a strong splash in the sports world! After seeing these various styles:
Which design style is your favorite?
What era does your brand feel like it is from?
When is the last time you updated your brand?
Vibe check
Before just going out and paying to update your logo, it's important to curate a vibe so the designer has some direction. This can be done simply by assembling images or videos together.
Historical logos
Photos or videos of team in community
Reasons behind your mascot / team name
Inspirational quotes
Merchandise and jersey samples
Design trends you like from above
Write up of why you chose each item
Grouping these items together along with a little write up can help get the inspirational juices flowing, and will create a meaningful brand that can have additional meaning drawn out after the fact.
What you need
Brand managers close your ears, because we’re going to keep this very simple for clubs.
To get started we recommend your logo has been designed with these things in mind:
Logo
Landscape wordmark version (roughly 1,000 x 500 px)
Square version (over 500 x 500 px)
PNG files with transparent backgrounds
Designed to look good on black or white backgrounds
Source files (Illustrator, Keynote, Photoshop, if used)
Color palette
2-4 colors (2 primary, 1-2 secondary)
RGB codes (#XXXXXX)
Getting it made
To build your new logo and color palette, the first place you should look is inside your community. The best option is to find a young graphic designer who is passionate about supporting your community and looking to start their freelance career. Positing on your Instagram or LinkedIn is a great way to help surface someone in the community.
If you cannot find someone locally, there are some simple online options available.
99designs offers a logo & social media pack for $399, and helps you run a contest amongst designers
Fivvr has designers offering to create logos starting as low as $25
Final notes
If you’re interested in learning more about branding, there are many great resources online, here’s a great place to start: How to Create a Powerful Brand Identity (A Step-by-Step Guide)
With options as low as free, there is no good reason to stick with a logo that is outdated!
Next in this blog series about helping you take your club online, we will discuss why we think you should use Shopify to host your club's website and store.