Future Club Crest & Brand Identity

[Jas10]

4 minutes ago, StanBalaban said:

To play devil's advocate here, you keep showing this version of the Lerner badge, but that isn't how the badge looked digitally.

The detail was from the shirt manufacturer for that season, and there's nothing stopping Adidas from doing that again in the future.

Ok, but I think the digital version is superior too.

It’s just a comparison of how it’s, apparently, going to look on the shirt.

Hopefully they do that, I’m hoping it looks better on a “real photo” of the real shirt.

It’s ok, I’ve had my say and have started to come to terms with it. I don’t like it… but there’s nothing we can do other than accept and move on.

Edited May 20 by Jas10

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

41 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Can’t comprehend how anyone could truly believe or say that there is some sort of improvement here… we’ve made it worse… it’s so ugly when you put them next to each other:

 

 

what a complete and utter waste of time and resources and misleading of fans.

AVFC detailed badge is nice as well when put like that to be honest.

Guess this one saying Aston Villa is the " bonus "

I also would have preferred detailed lion.

It's how they present on media I'm really concerned with 

[Jas10]

13 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

That’s fair a point..

has there been an embroidered that iteration of the Lerner badge? 

 

I‘m just not going to lie or be in denial…

the best we have done is waste time and money on something similar…

Personally, on the evidence so far, I think we’ve ended up with something worse and less appealing.

But… nothing we can do about it.

We’re just sharing our thoughts and views in the relevant place to do it, should be critiqued for better or worse.

Edited May 20 by Jas10

[StanBalaban]

1 minute ago, CarryOnVilla said:

That’s fair a point..

has there been an embroidered that iteration of the Lerner badge? 

I believe so, but I couldn't say with certainty.

My feelings towards this badge is that it ticks the box of being instantly recognisable as a Villa badge. That's not to say it's great but, for me, it's all about what we associate the badge with.

If this badge is what future Villa fans look back at the team that beat Bayern again in the Champions League then it will be remembered fondly. I don't love it, but I think it will grow on me because of this team, these owners and this manager. 

Out of interest, living outside of the UK, I mingle with fans of teams from all over in my office. As much as we may know and love it, I can say that showing most of them a standalone lion leaves many with no clue which team it's from. 

[Jas10]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

AVFC detailed badge is nice as well when put like that to be honest.

Guess this one saying Aston Villa is the " bonus "

I also would have preferred detailed lion.

It's how they present on media I'm really concerned with 

To tell you the truth… I don’t give a shit about having our name in full on there. There are many badges that don’t even have the name of the club that are instantly recognisable or iconic. If the design is good, the other stuff doesn’t matter so much.

Although I’d prefer to have it there… what I really wanted and expected, and what we deserved after being asked about it, is something that was a lot better than what we had and that solved the issues of the one we were trying to get away from in the first place!  That has not happened, not even close.
 

And you were one of the most vocal and critical of those issues in the first place… and they still exist.

[Ingers]

I'm lost for words....

There are so many issues with this badge - the yellow lion on light blue, the blobby lion (which is being used by other companies and even clubs!) as opposed to the much better current round badge lion, the unbalanced nature of the design, the small font, text at the bottom, the star, and the fact that when used anywhere but on the shirt there is hardly any claret - not to mention the shadow.

I've warmed to idea of the shield shape and can see the benefits of having a unique shield shape (I don't like this one, but at least it is unique) - the double outline looks odd on actual badge, but I see the use of just a double outline of this shield shape - with adidas release and in the marketing link.

Having listened to others on here, I can also see the reason for brand evolution as opposed to revolution perspective.

I like the idea of the whole brand being updated, however....

The brand update 'brand book' on the puff piece is woeful - I count at least 4 unrelated and vastly different fonts, images of round and shield badges,  - not what I would call #onbrand, and nothing remotely related to the 150 mark  - then there are all the visuals from behind the player, at the awards - not included.

The statement about the design being 'in house' is the kicker, and explains why this whole process is incoherent and has produced such an amateur result - which is supposed to accompany us to the next level and sell our brand globally. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Finally, and perhaps the most disappointing from Mr Heck, are the outright lies in the marketing week piece (and on his videos) - repeatedly treating the fans -  'his customers' like idiots.

Its so good on the pitch, just such a shame our grand old club just can't get it right off the pitch....

 

[PaulMcGrath_5]

Just now, Ingers said:

I'm lost for words....

There are so many issues with this badge - the yellow lion on light blue, the blobby lion (which is being used by other companies and even clubs!) as opposed to the much better current round badge lion, the unbalanced nature of the design, the small font, text at the bottom, the star, and the fact that when used anywhere but on the shirt there is hardly any claret - not to mention the shadow.

I've warmed to idea of the shield shape and can see the benefits of having a unique shield shape (I don't like this one, but at least it is unique) - the double outline looks odd on actual badge, but I see the use of just a double outline of this shield shape - with adidas release and in the marketing link.

Having listened to others on here, I can also see the reason for brand evolution as opposed to revolution perspective.

I like the idea of the whole brand being updated, however....

The brand update 'brand book' on the puff piece is woeful - I count at least 4 unrelated and vastly different fonts, images of round and shield badges,  - not what I would call #onbrand, and nothing remotely related to the 150 mark  - then there are all the visuals from behind the player, at the awards - not included.

The statement about the design being 'in house' is the kicker, and explains why this whole process is incoherent and has produced such an amateur result - which is supposed to accompany us to the next level and sell our brand globally. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Finally, and perhaps the most disappointing from Mr Heck, are the outright lies in the marketing week piece (and on his videos) - repeatedly treating the fans -  'his customers' like idiots.

Its so good on the pitch, just such a shame our grand old club just can't get it right off the pitch....

 

Clearly!

[StanBalaban]

Just now, Jas10 said:

To tell you the truth… I don’t give a shit about having our name in full on there. There are many badges that don’t even have the name of the club that are instantly recognisable or iconic. If the design is good, the other stuff doesn’t matter so much.

 

This is my point from earlier... There's a handful of team that can do that. We know and recognise our lion of course. I don't think we're quite there yet with the rest of the world.

The more exposure we get with Adidas and Champs League, will certainly help in that quest.

[CarryOnVilla]

6 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

 

 

Ooooff, that’s worse than our current embroidered badge 

[fightoffyour]

2 hours ago, Woody1000 said:

If it makes any of you feel better, I quite like the new crest…

I'm certainly comforted to know that if I lose my eyesight, there's still a way to use VT  

[Ingers]

@PaulMcGrath_5  I'll pay that -  I was as I started to write...!

Edited May 20 by Ingers

[DJBOB]

39 minutes ago, Wezbid said:

For whatever it's worth, the Mrs has no skin in this game. 

As an outsider she's liking the badge from yesterday's tweet or whatever it was. She doesn't care for the circle badge as it looks like everybody else whilst the shield is more unique and recognisable.

I love the circle design if the lion was the other way around but I also completely see where she's coming from.

Just match the badge colours to the shirt rather than the blue of the shirt being different and it'll be a much easier acceptance.

I know VT doesn’t like it but the shield, lion, and name are differentiators. 
 
I think to @Teale's 'tache point, the coloring and what not can evolve but the brand uniformity and the “differentiator” design will have a longer lasting impact. 
 
You can already see it with all of the adidas crossover items. 
 
So while people may not like the lion detail, drop shadow, text, star, etc, it’s more important to have a standout and consistent shape and design that can be evolved over time.

Neutrals will see the shape design, colors and know its Aston Villa. The round badge was not going to be a standout for us. 

[LondonLax]

5 hours ago, alreadyexists said:

It’s weird because surely the cheapest and easiest option would be to just have kept the round badge? 

I think the round badge is too close to Chelsea’s to be viable from a marketing perspective these days.

It might be a traditional design for old school Aston Villa fans but a round badge with a lion will forevermore be associated with Chelsea now the Premier League has a global following. 

[nick76]

1 hour ago, Aston_Villan4 said:

Was there a time specified for this release or is just a sit around and wait for it to drop kinda thing?

Yeah release it when fans are most distracted by other things.

[CarryOnVilla]

So, having a tinker to tweak the new badge in to something I like

First off, "Aston Villa" at the bottom feels squished in, and being near the Shield's tip emphasised how the words are not balanced. so a move to the top to get away from the tip... Also, I softened off the drop shadow to be less blocky, but keep the colour separation 
  

 

The contrast, between the shirt, shield looks great, But the shield and lion doesnt contrast well... so a colour swap around

Trying to get a nice balance of all our colours and I can't seem to like any of them more than the yellow lion..

odd

Edited May 20 by CarryOnVilla

[VictoriabcVillan]

It's just fine. The amount of people overly emotional & pompous about a drop shadow is absolutely comical though. Seriously if your getting that upset & wound up over a shadow on a badge. I think you should speak to someone. 

[fightoffyour]

Start from the Mono to forget the colour issue and different preferences for now:

Crest shape: ok it's a shield, it's unique (not as unique as a gas lamp but fine), it's an evolution on our previous shields, the double (triple?) border will allow it to stand out on various backgrounds. The text is at the bottom too, I guess that's unique within a crest rather than a separate scroll underneath. Fine.

Why is the lion so high up? The balance is completely off, it's painful to look at. Let's move it down:

Suddenly looks like there's more space, so we could make the lion bigger:

The 1874 is a bit squashed though, how about ditch that and the star:

Or maybe move the 1874 to the opposite side of the star for balance there too:

And that's how any idiot with five minutes and a photo editing app can improve the current badge.

[Okonokos]

Just now, VictoriabcVillan said:

It's just fine. The amount of people overly emotional & pompous about a drop shadow is absolutely comical though. Seriously if your getting that upset & wound up over a shadow on a badge. I think you should speak to someone. 

I'm more upset about the yellow lion than the shadow. Most clubs badges are their primary colours. Our badge makes it look like we play in blue and yellow. It could be solved so easily with a claret lion.

[fightoffyour]

11 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

So, having a tinker to tweak the new badge in to something I like

First off, "Aston Villa" at the bottom feels squished in, and being near the Shield's tip emphasised how the words are not balanced. so a move to the top to get away from the tip... Also, I softened off the drop shadow to be less blocky, but keep the colour separation 
  

 

The contrast, between the shirt, shield looks great, But the shield and lion doesnt contrast well... so a colour swap around

Trying to get a nice balance of all our colours and I can't seem to like any of them more than the yellow lion..

odd

I would do the one on the RHS but the outer border is claret (so wouldn't be visible on this background) and the inner two are both the same colour blue so it's just a thicker border. It's not working with the white in between as the blue is just softened.

[thunderball]

56 minutes ago, Ingers said:

I'm lost for words....

There are so many issues with this badge - the yellow lion on light blue, the blobby lion (which is being used by other companies and even clubs!) as opposed to the much better current round badge lion, the unbalanced nature of the design, the small font, text at the bottom, the star, and the fact that when used anywhere but on the shirt there is hardly any claret - not to mention the shadow.

I've warmed to idea of the shield shape and can see the benefits of having a unique shield shape (I don't like this one, but at least it is unique) - the double outline looks odd on actual badge, but I see the use of just a double outline of this shield shape - with adidas release and in the marketing link.

Having listened to others on here, I can also see the reason for brand evolution as opposed to revolution perspective.

I like the idea of the whole brand being updated, however....

The brand update 'brand book' on the puff piece is woeful - I count at least 4 unrelated and vastly different fonts, images of round and shield badges,  - not what I would call #onbrand, and nothing remotely related to the 150 mark  - then there are all the visuals from behind the player, at the awards - not included.

The statement about the design being 'in house' is the kicker, and explains why this whole process is incoherent and has produced such an amateur result - which is supposed to accompany us to the next level and sell our brand globally. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Finally, and perhaps the most disappointing from Mr Heck, are the outright lies in the marketing week piece (and on his videos) - repeatedly treating the fans -  'his customers' like idiots.

Its so good on the pitch, just such a shame our grand old club just can't get it right off the pitch....

 

I agree with a lot of what you said here. However the round badge was externally commissioned and thats is perhaps more unsatisfactory, I guess you cant please all the people all of the time.

A lot of people have a downer on Heck, it seems to be a sport and common narrative for Villa fans. He is very American and an easy target and to label as not understanding our sport. But he has a big task ahead, he's gong to upset a few along the way as is the way and the nature of the task. Could be convenient soundbites and easier said than done but I have to say I do like his tone and analysis: 

“The club was run on efficiency as opposed to ambition,” he says, and being tight-fisted wasn’t helping the brand grow.

“I didn’t come over here to be average,” Heck adds, describing the huge potential he sees for the club in its 150th anniversary year. 

“This is the club that’s going to break the mould,” he says. The top level of the Premier League is in flux. The traditional ‘big six’ is changing and Aston Villa ended the current season ahead of the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. It was this potential that appealed to Heck. 

“Aston Villa was the one that stood out. It’s in a huge market, it’s a club of history and then they hired this magical coach,” he adds. “This is the club that’s going to break the mould and that’s when I was like – OK, I’m in.”

We have to give the guy some trust and time to evidence his actions. I think it will take a while but he is trying with the implementation of several initiatives already for good or bad, and I would suggest he is a net gain. Time will tell but I wish him well, we have a long way to catch up and quickly too. There is phrase in tech 'move fast and break things', some of that may be the attitude here as we have been laggards for decades.