The football club's refreshed look calls back to its heritage.
Having won the Championship and secured a promotion to the Premier League, 2018 has proved to be a good year for Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, or as fan calls them, Wolves. A nicely timed rebrand courtesy of design agency SomeOne tops off these achievements, and sees the irreplaceable Wolves logo design transformed into a 3D version and accompanied by snazzy new typefaces.
As part of its brief, SomeOne was tasked with nodding back to the club's heritage, as well as recognising the club's new ownership under the Chinese company Fosun Group.
Having been founded in 1877, Wolves have a long history for the studio to work with. In the end, SomeOne drew on Wolverhampton's association with ironmongery to forge a strong new identity that looks like it's been hammered into shape.
This new identity includes a three dimensional Wolves logo and two fonts inspired by the club badge – Wolves Display and Wolves Display Cut. Check it out by clicking left to right in the gallery below with the arrows.
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Wolves were one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888
Nothing could replace the instantly recognisable logo
The new typefaces feature scrappy, torn out notches
It's all in the eyes...
The new branding extends to merchandise and tickets
Wolves Display Cut is one of two new fonts, including Wolves Display
Football club redesigns can prove controversial with fans, just look at the outrage surrounding the Leeds United badge rebrand. To tackle this, SomeOne consulted various groups along the way, including supporters.
“We knew not to touch the club’s iconic badge, but instead, use it as inspiration for a new 3D brand property," says SomeOne designer Tim Green. "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."
"We wanted to give a nod to the city’s industrial heritage, so opted for a bold and condensed style," adds SomeOne designer Ian Dawson. "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."
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Dom Carter is a freelance writer who specialises in art and design. Formerly a staff writer for Creative Bloq, his work has also appeared on Creative Boom and in the pages of ImagineFX, Computer Arts, 3D World, and .net. He has been a D&AD New Blood judge, and has a particular interest in picture books.
