Northampton Saints
CLIENT
Jard Studio was engaged by Northampton Saints, following a pitch process, to redesign the club crest. Poor recall, recognition and digital legibility were among the challenges. In fact, awareness scores put Saints at the bottom of the Premiership table among both rugby fans and wider sports fans. Equally, a wider engagement issue with Rugby Union as a whole is leading to competitive landscape where clubs are fighting hard for the attention and retention of fans. Alongside this challenge, it was also very clear from the outset that there was the desire to create something clean and modern, but with a clear respect for and link to the club’s rich heritage.
Type
Packaging
,
Year
2024
Strategy
We used two main areas of research to develop our thinking. The first was to gain access to the club’s archives to pick up possible threads for inspiration. As huge sports fans, this sort of access was an absolute pleasure. We got our hands on everything from old programmes and ticket stubs to posters, photographs and memorabilia. Our second channel of research was with the fans themselves. Consultation sessions resulted in a number of elements being identified that live very close to their hearts. Namely, the club’s colours and heritage as well as an agreement that a bold identity would be important. When we combined all of these insights, we were able to narrow our thinking down to some clear creative routes. The result revolves around the club’s first-ever crest. We have brought this into the modern day, creating a bold and easily recognised club crest that stands out against the opposition just as much as the players (2024 champions, no less) do on the pitch.
Voice
Whilst this project was primarily linked to design, it was key that we developed an approach to launch that allowed for the story of the new design to be told. Merely landing a new crest into the laps of the fans without any explanation would only result in confusion. This started with the creation of launch messaging. To reflect the brief and the inspiration behind the design, we developed ‘Defined by our history. Made for the future.’ Our central message for launch.
Additionally, we storyboarded, scripted, animated and produced the launch video content. This process also involved engaging with ex-Saints lock, Hagrid body double, established actor & presenter, Martin Bayfield, to record our voice-over. He went above and beyond with his time and help so a special thanks is reserved for him.
We’d also like to thank our partners at Move Animation Studio who were instrumental in the execution of our launch content.
We created a clear and confident story behind the launch that also displayed that the creative solution we had reached was deeply rooted in the club’s history.
Identity
Our design starts with two core elements. Firstly, the icon. Taken from the first ever crest to adorn Saints shirts, we have modernised this emblem to create something symmetrical, unique and completely ‘ownable’ for the club. The previous crest is very close or identical to crests used by the local football club and the town council.
The second core element was the club’s shield. We have maintained this from the previous design to offer some fresh consistency, creating a bridge between the old and the new. Our launch content shows the new icon used within the shield and in isolation. This offers some flexibility for the club in the creation of marketing materials and communications into the future. However, the club crest on the shirt remains within its known-and-loved surroundings.
We have also made more prominent use of the club’s colours as well as containing the name and date of foundation within the crest. Previously, these elements were either loose or not featured at all. Addressing this makes for a cleaner, more robust solution, no matter the context within which it is seen.
