Overview

A personal branding concept exploring how the identity of my local football club could be reimagined through a modern crest, while respecting the history and heritage that supporters already identify with.

Project Type: Personal Concept Role: Brand Identity, Logo Design, Visual Strategy

The Challenge

Football crests carry decades of history and emotional attachment. The challenge wasn't to replace that history, but to explore how a modern identity could retain the club's character while feeling more confident, scalable and consistent across today's digital and physical applications.

As a local supporter, I wanted to explore what that balance could look like.

The Approach

Rather than starting with trends, I began by understanding what made the existing identity recognisable.

The project focused on:

Preserving the iconic lion

Respecting Horsham's traditional green and yellow colours

Simplifying complex illustration into cleaner forms

Improving balance and legibility

Creating an identity that works from social media avatars through to embroidered kits

Throughout the process I referenced modern football identity systems that successfully evolved without losing their heritage.

Design Exploration

The project explored multiple directions before arriving at the final concept.

This included:

Lion illustration styles

Typography

Circular badge layouts

Colour refinement

Border treatments

Simplified heraldic detailing

Each iteration tested how far the badge could be simplified while remaining unmistakably Horsham.

The Outcome

The final concept presents a cleaner, more contemporary interpretation of the club's identity.

Rather than reinventing the badge, it focuses on refining its strongest assets into a mark that feels confident, recognisable and versatile across every touchpoint.

Applications

The concept was visualised across:

Match kits

Social media graphics

Digital assets

Merchandise

Brand presentation

This helped evaluate how the identity performs beyond the badge itself.

Disclaimer

This is an independent personal concept and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Horsham Football Club. It was created purely as a creative exploration.