Lincoln City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the "Imps" after the legend of the Lincoln Imp, they have played at 10,120-capacity Sincil Bank since their move from John O'Gaunts in 1895.
We were tasked with the job of refining the brand of Lincoln City FC, to ensure it could be consistently applied across all marketing materials. As the Imp has been a cherished part of Lincoln history and the crest for a number of years, the challenge here was making the logo more easily reproducible without heavily altering the design.
Rich with heritage, it was important the brand refinement did not alienate the brand supporters.
We began by conducting a thorough analysis of the existing marketing materials and identifying where the branding was being applied inconsistently. Following from this we decided that we needed to redraw the logo to create a version in 'reverse' colours, in landscape, and with a typeface which could be reproduced throughout the branding. We then created a clear set of brand guidelines and included as many examples as possible to ensure the brand could then be implemented consistently.
We presented our work to the team at Lincoln City FC, which had great reception. We have continued to offer guidance to their marketing team on how to apply the branding across all their collateral.
