The Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. The Club’s ten-year anniversary was approaching and they decided it was the perfect time for a rebrand. The old brand was a bit of a dog’s breakfast because of several stakeholders having input on the original design. The result was a muddled look and one of the most hated professional sports team logos in Australia. The Roar wanted a more grown-up, European aesthetic and to drop the cartoony NRL-style logo – but it needed to retain a certain aggression and competitiveness. It had to be a nod to the past, but still modern enough to grow the Club with a younger audience. Ideally, it would be timeless and revered like the famous European clubs.
The new logo also needed to represent the Club as a whole, rather than just the premier league team. To achieve this, the lion’s full body was incorporated – with the head representing the premier league team, the body being the management, and the limbs being the various teams within the Club. Because they had surrounded, embraced, and supported the Roar for years, the members and the city were represented by the European-inspired supporter scarves that wrapped around the lion. All of this was drawn in the style of a modern European crest. Sharp angles were used to give the design a more aggressive feel.
These themes were incorporated into the new uniform and the title sponsor was even convinced to represent their logo in black, rather than the normal white, to let the new crest and brand stand out. This empowered the brand and established a bold, simplified look that will endure for years to come.
The Roar management said it was exactly what they were after and that, even after winning three national championships, they now finally felt like a proper football club.
Originally, this job was going to be put to tender, but the Roar decided to work with me exclusively on the design.
