A new look, strategy and approach for the newly invigorated club.
After a successful 2017-18 Championship season (being crowned as record-breaking champions no less) Wolves commissioned SomeOne to create a new, distinctive personality, narrative and BrandWorld – to help them better communicate the passion and future of the club.
The brief required consideration of glories past (they were one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888), whilst reflecting the new exciting era under the leadership of the Fosun Group. The brand also needed to address many different audiences – from core fans, international fans, broadcasters, businesses and the local community.
The strategic piece of work saw us consult numerous groups, from key stakeholders through to supporter groups.
Ensuring the involvement of the fans was crucial to us, after all – it is their club. With their help and all the stakeholder’s involvement, we have an outcome we are all really excited about and are ready for what promises to be a great season.
Gary Holt, SomeOne Founder, and Strategic Director adds “the strategy, values, and ethos encompasses everything the club stands for – from its passion and progression to its consideration for heritage and engagement. From its heartland in the West Midlands to a global audience. It’s this combination of future and past, ambition and respect that made it so compelling, and such a driving force for the BrandWorld”.
A series of lovingly-crafted 3D wolf heads will form the backbone of future communications, playing a key role in growing the fanbase, home and away.
The three-dimensional nature of the head is inspired by the history of ironmongery in Wolverhampton. Using the idea of traditional forging, but recontextualised to reach a modern global audience.
It would’ve been easy to follow a graphic trend, add a colour, simplify it down. But that’s not Wolves. We added something dynamic, with depth, something for the future, just like Nuno’s men.
We knew not to touch the club’s iconic badge, but instead, use it as inspiration for a new 3D brand property. The depth of the 3D wolf (particularly the version with lit eyes) adds a dynamic, competitive spirit that can’t be reflected in flat vector forms.
Russell Jones, Head of Marketing at Wolverhampton Wanderers further explains “Wolves are entering a new exciting era, both on and off the pitch – all under the leadership of the Fosun Group. This dynamic, exciting future needed to be re-positioned to fans through our narrative and identity. Whilst we had an existing brand style in place, we have been working closely with the team at SomeOne to re-define our messaging and produce a set of modern assets that have refreshed our brand. The introduction of this work has already begun, through internal training, across our social media, and on signage at Molineux. To date the work has been incredibly well received both internally and externally.”
The new BrandWorld assets have been supported by the existing badge and colour palette.
We also designed two bespoke typefaces – Wolves Display and Wolves Display Cut.
Taking inspiration from the iconic club badge, we designed two bespoke typefaces. We wanted to give a nod to the City’s industrial heritage, so opted for a bold and condensed style. By using the geometric forms of the eyes, we began removing cuts and angles from the letterforms. Moving forward, this allows the club to speak in a distinctive and ownable voice, without relying too heavily on the badge.
Everyone at SomeOne would like to wish Wolves the best of luck this coming season. The pack is back.
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Featured in The Design Museum, London as part of the 2019 Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition
Top Ten Most Popular Rebrands of the Year — Design Week 2018
Transform Awards 2019
Silver — Brand brand evolution
Bronze — Best use of typography
BrandImpact Awards 2019
Sports — Brand Identity
CreativePool Awards 2019
Gold — Brand Identity
Gold & People’s Choice — Typography