THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

Designing an icon of football

When Budweiser arrived as lead sponsor of football’s oldest club competition, The FA selected us to deliver the brand expression. Over 700 teams take part in this established journey which involves footballers from all walks of life, from part-time players to globally famous professionals. Fans too are swept up in the romance looking for that big upset on the way. Everyone involved shares the same dream; to lift The FA Cup. We have celebrated the journey and woven it into the fabric of the expression, designing perspectival shapes that talk to a journey undertaken.

OBJECTIVES:

– Create a clear and owned piece of brand equity for the FA Cup

– Develop a design approach that preserves that equity even if title sponsors change

– Celebrate the iconic trophy and respect the legacy of the FA Cup

– Provide a set of assets that express the brand everywhere, across all touch-points

We went to great lengths to build the new brand and provide the assets that teams, sponsors and broadcasters would need. The FA Cup itself was created digitally in three dimensions removing the need for third-party trophy photography.

A competition mark was crafted carefully integrating Budweiser’s brand 'bowtie', and a dynamic 'journey' graphic was implemented along with bespoke typefaces - to make a brand truely unique means creating bespoke assets for every aspect of it. For The FA Cup this meant crafting a special family of typefaces. As well as being ideal expressions of the brand’s persona they are also licensed to The FA, making financial sense as the brand rolls out across broadcast, digital and print platforms.