AFL’s Adelaide Crows unveils new brand identity

The Adelaide Football Club has revealed a new brand identity aimed at modern audiences.

The club’s new brand contains bespoke font, unified style elements and a reworked logo that all consolidate into a new visual identity that reflect the club’s heritge.

The redesign’s main component is the minimalist, three-colour winged ‘swooping crow’ symbol - inspired by South Australia - that references the club’s original logo from 1990. .

The logo’s colours - gold, red and navy - were also given new life as a reference to the southern state’s “colours and the original guernsey”.

In terms of font, the brand identity’s bespoke NinetySeven typeface blends “traditional hand-painted Australian Rules Football lettering” with the crow’s straight-lined, sharp form.

Responsible for the new brand identity, Will Fuller, Managing Director of South Australian agency, Fuller Brand Communication, advised “as a national agency, proudly founded in South Australia, many of our team are passionate supporters - we know how much this brand means to people across the state.

“The Crows belong to a unique group of AFL clubs created to represent an entire state, not just a small area - they are the Pride of South Australia.

“The statement ‘Made from South Australia’ is a simple but powerful expression of the deep connection between the state and the club, and speaks to the many elements that they share, including its name, its colours and its symbols.

“This foundation is woven deeply into the club’s identity, and we wanted to develop a brand that honours this pride while also providing an expressive, adaptable, and enduring look.”

The Club’s first logo redesign since 2010, it involved widespread consultation with members, supporters and focus groups, such as the member engagement panel, as well as undertaking research among supporters.

Explaining this, Fuller added “we engaged over a thousand stakeholders, from players across all three teams to staff, former players, and members and fans both in South Australia and interstate, involving them at every stage.

“Their feedback played a huge role, and their words can be seen throughout the brand messaging.”

In addition to updating the brand, Fuller created a set of videos that celebrate the football club’s new era. A brand film that uses “playing vision and Crows fans” was included in the set as another connection to South Australia and the Adelaide Football Club’s story.

Welcoming the new look, Adelaide Football Club Chief Executive, Tim Silvers s said calls for a new logo had been a constant theme in feedback from Crows Members and fans since he had arrived at the Club, adding the striking new design proudly represented the past and the future.

Silver explained “the logo is one of the Club’s most recognisable features and our supporters take great pride in it, and the throwback to the original swooping Crow reinforces our connection to this city and state by the way it now incorporates the actual shape of South Australia.

“We also wanted to make sure we celebrated our heritage but with a modern look and feel, which we think will resonate with our next generation of supporters. We’ve consulted and listened to a wide range of stakeholders, including and most importantly sections of our supporter base, over the past 18-months.

“Now is the perfect time to make this change as our new headquarters at Thebarton Oval is moving closer and closer to reality, so it really is the start of a new era.”