The Devil Inside
The Demons put a new face on a proud history to celebrate a landmark anniversary.
Perhaps no other institution in Melbourne both galvanises and polarises the passions as much as AFL.
So when the League’s oldest Club, named for the city that is football’s home, and one of the world’s oldest sporting organisations, approached the business of its Sesquicentenary, it saw a unique opportunity to celebrate the past whilst establishing a brand new Melbourne Football Club presence.
Selecting the design driver
The Melbourne Football Club executive approached Richard Henderson, CEO and Creative Director of R-Co, specialists in brand identity to seed the new demons. By fortune or design, it helped that the designer is himself a dedicated Melbourne supporter.
Paul Gardner discussed the key objectives in developing the Club’s new visual identity, “These were centred around positioning the Club as the Club of the City, focussing on imagery that members most identified with such as the Jumper, to create a strong, simple identity that had a presence when viewed against other AFL logos and businesses generally”.
“We relied on R-Co to deliver an identity that supported the above objectives, respected our 150 year history, but also made a bold statement, [supported] of course by a complete style guide to support the new identity with the flexibility to use across merchandise and various forms of communications.”
Branding the challenge
Rather than exorcise the Demon brand, a new visual identity would have to consolidate the long and proud club history, commemorate the Sesquicentenary and position the club strategically to move forward as a key element in the city, as well as forging new commercial partnerships.
Thus the new identity would be a touchstone for the historic celebration calendar positioning the Club as 150 years young and also act as a visual prospectus for the new look 'MELBOURNEfc’s' enterprise strategies. These included expanding business and community involvement, building on its supporter base whilst attracting a new membership demographic.
The design benefit
As Richard Henderson illustrates clever, considered design is the basis for competitive edge in any business. He believes that as they are more widely understood and appreciated, the benefits of good design are creating clear differentiation in the marketplace, their application a springboard to a more rewarding user experience and for the producer, brand longevity.
“In a marketplace that is rapidly converging, design is the one aspect that can make a product or service stand out. Design is the result of strategic thinking, analysis and inspired imagination.
Paul Gardner applauds the role that an innovative design strategy has played in affirming its past whilst repositioning the Club for its future campaigns.
“Design delivers the first impression of an organisation and you cannot get two chances at creating a favourable first impression,” he says. “This visual brand is simple, strong and memorable, and very directly relates to the business we are in, that of a football club; it helps bring all the diverse elements of our activities more sharply under one common ‘seal’, and all that it represents.
To read more about how design is helping the Melbourne Football Club, please download the MELBOURNEfc Case Study here .
Related Links
MELBOURNEfc — www.melbournefc.com.au
R-Co — www.r-co.com.au
Lani Steinberg for Design Victoria
18 March 2008.