Rebranding Cheshire Phoenix
We’ve spent the last eight months piecing together a brand identity for Cheshire Phoenix Basketball Club. Here’s a deeper look into our process with our Brand Designer and Founder Tom Woollam.
How did you and Cheshire Phoenix start working together?
We began talks in early March about how we could help the club elevate their marketing activity. Early on, it was clear that the brand wasn’t the driving force for the club. We discussed our shared passion for basketball, the devoted #nixnation fanbase, the structure of the BBL and how each team is a self-sufficient entity. I strongly recommended repositioning the club to help them achieve their goal of ‘putting British basketball on the map.’
It’s a difficult time for sport, did this affect your relationship or process with the club?
It has definitely slowed the process down due to uncertainty around the industry, however, I’d say the difficult times we continue to face have been a prominent driving force to create some excitement around the league. Our collective mindset has been that basketball will return and when it does, Cheshire Phoenix and their passionate fanbase will be ready.
Have you designed an identity for a basketball club before?
Nope, this is my first one. I’m an avid basketball fan so this really didn’t feel like ‘work’ to me. I think over time you get so engrossed in processes, results, ROI – sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and create something that just feels right, especially if the client is open to ideas.
Where do you begin with a project like this?
Every project is different. Most of our studio projects will start with defining values and turning these into a mission. With Cheshire Phoenix the crest was always going to be the face of the brand, so we had to get that bit right first.
Initial sketches of shield shapes, phoenix symbols and basketballs.
What was the process like designing the crest?
Chaos. I’ll throw anything and everything at the wall until something sticks. Sometimes it can be drawings or images and sometimes it can be Illustrator files filled with what feel like finished idents. For me, I quite often have a very clear vision for the logo straight out of the gate, which I’d like to think comes from listening to clients and truly understanding their situation and goals from a new brand.
A very typical Illustrator file.
Do you have any advice for designers creating brands in the basketball industry?
I’d say the most important thing is making stuff with impact. You have to create something that excites everyone, not just the club. A sports club, on any level, is about competition. The competition drives excitement alone but with a brand that mirrors that passion and intensity it can become something much bigger.
What about the rest of the identity?
Once we had near enough nailed down the crest the next step was to bring the phoenix to life. This helped us form a defining element for branding touchpoints and creating visual coherency across the identity.
Phoenix detail.
Were there any challenges that stood out on this project?
I’d say illustrating the phoenix itself was the biggest challenge as there are so many interconnected elements to consider. In general, the hardest part of this kind of rebrand is maintaining the impact of the brand across different media.
What kind of impact do you think this rebrand will have?
I’m hoping this will empower the club with a renewed outlook on the upcoming season and give fans something to get truly excited about. On a wider scale, I’d love to see more BBL teams take their brand seriously as a result of this rebrand and help highlight the importance of basketball in Britain.
Social media graphics in situ.
Written by Tom Woollam
Creative Director & Founder
