SUTTON UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB
Crest Redesign Concept
Passion project for the rebrand and design of the Sutton United Football Club crest.
Sutton UTD was founded in 1898 and currently play in the National League (Vanarama National league). The fifth tier of English Football.
The Sutton United crest bears much resemblance to the arms granted to the Sutton & Cheam Borough Council, although certain colours have been changed, as well as the motto being replaced by the club name. The Popinjay (or parrot) is from the arms of the Lumley family - ancient Lords of the Manor of Cheam. In its claw, the popinjay holds a cross of Canterbury.
In 1966, the Sutton & Cheam Borough Council became part of a larger London Borough of Sutton with new (and altered) arms being granted. On this altered version, the keys and Popinjay holding a cross have filtered over.
Existing Crest
Like many other football teams; Sutton utilise an existing coat of arms from their area as their football badge. Some alter colour schemes or features, but in the most part they stay true to the existing coat of arms. Over time, teams have modernised their badges by taking a feature from the coat of arms and focusing on that element for the main subject of their new crest. It could be the shield aspect or the outer border.
Also, some teams have quite elaborate badge designs but utilise a simplified version on club kits and merchandise. Liverpool comes to mind; as you see below their main crest has many features, where as on their kits for instance, they use they simplified version (the Liver bird on its own).
Such aspects discussed here were very influential when it came to my redesign of the
Sutton UTD crest.
Main Liverpool Crest (Left) - Simplified Crest used on kit (right)
The stand out feature from the existing coat of arms used by Sutton UTD was the Popinjay (parrot) holding a cross at the top. This motive also features on the Sutton Borough Council arms and so is synonymous with the area. A more polished version of this emblem depicted in a simplified manner was the path I chose to base my crest redesign for the club around.
The bird itself is unique and I can't recall seeing it on any sporting crest before. You have birds such as magpies and eagles that can be associated with numerous teams. The fact it is holding a cross makes it even more unique and I believed would make a memorable and stylish club badge.
The outer shield gives the crest a structure that can be removed on other variants of the design easily. The way the logo has been constructed means it can be displayed in a single colour variant. This is very important as having too many colours can be hard to construct a sleek final design when it comes to embroidery or being put on other mediums. By being able to use only one colour over the whole design also means it is easier to change; for instance on home and away kits the background colour of the shirt would define what colour the crest will be.
Single Colour Variant (1) - Chocolate Version / Synonymous colour for the club
Colour Variant with background colour (Shield Fill)
Above is a mock up of the crest without the outer shield. Here, I have also added some type elements (the clubs name wrapping around the ball). On the existing coat of arms crest, the clubs name is present so on this variant I have also added that element.
Having a simplified design that can be altered in certain ways; but still maintain its look and identity is an advantage. Therefore, different crest variants can be utilised in different areas
when appropriate.
Logo Variants Embroidered Mockups
