Bold and condensed: SomeOne on the Wolves' latest rebranding hit

From core fans, international fans, broadcasters, businesses and the local community Wolves have to address every single member of it's ever expanding fanbase. Problem was eventually solved with the help of SomeOne, the graphic design studio which "broke" the Internet with the first visual identity for UK Parliament ever.

On that viral project SomeOne worked with the House of Commons and the House of Lords to develop an updated visual identity for UK Parliament. Now the creatives at the award-winning brand practice that strategically launches, relaunches & protects brands worldwide had to deal with a pack which, for many, is destined to rule.

After a successful 2017-18 Championship season (being crowned as record-breaking champions no less) Wolves commissioned SomeOne to create a new, distinctive personality, narrative and BrandWorld – to help them better communicate the passion and future of the club.

The brief required consideration of glories past (they were one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888), whilst reflecting the new exciting era under the leadership of the Fosun Group. 

"The strategic piece of work saw us consult numerous groups, from key stakeholders through to supporter groups. Ensuring the involvement of the fans was crucial to us, after all – it is their club. With their help and all the stakeholder’s involvement, we have an outcome we are all really excited about and are ready for what promises to be a great season" notes Beth Baines, SomeOne's Account Manager.

Gary Holt, SomeOne Founder, and Strategic Director adds “the strategy, values, and ethos encompasses everything the club stands for – from its passion and progression to its consideration for heritage and engagement. From its heartland in the West Midlands to a global audience. It’s this combination of future and past, ambition and respect that made it so compelling, and such a driving force for the BrandWorld”.

"A series of lovingly-crafted 3D wolf heads will form the backbone of future communications, playing a key role in growing the fanbase, home and away" says SomeOne's creative director Rich Rhodes. "The three-dimensional nature of the head is inspired by the history of ironmongery in Wolverhampton. Using the idea of traditional forging, but re-contextualised to reach a modern global audience. It would’ve been easy to follow a graphic trend, add a colour, simplify it down. But that’s not Wolves. We added something dynamic, with depth, something for the future, just like Nuno’s men".

As for the club's iconic badge? "We knew not to touch it, but instead, we used it as inspiration for a new 3D brand property. The depth of the 3D wolf (particularly the version with lit eyes) adds a dynamic, competitive spirit that can’t be reflected in flat vector forms" explains designer Tim Green.

“Wolves are entering a new exciting era, both on and off the pitch – all under the leadership of the Fosun Group" further notes Russell Jones, Head of Marketing at Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

"This dynamic, exciting future needed to be re-positioned to fans through our narrative and identity. Whilst we had an existing brand style in place, we have been working closely with the team at SomeOne to re-define our messaging and produce a set of modern assets that have refreshed our brand. The introduction of this work has already begun, through internal training, across our social media, and on signage at Molineux. To date the work has been incredibly well received both internally and externally.”

The new BrandWorld assets have been supported by the existing badge and colour palette.

SomeOne also designed two bespoke typefaces – Wolves Display and Wolves Display Cut.

"Taking inspiration from the iconic club badge, we designed two bespoke typefaces" notes designer. "We wanted to give a nod to the City’s industrial heritage, so opted for a bold and condensed style. By using the geometric forms of the eyes, we began removing cuts and angles from the letterforms. Moving forward, this allows the club to speak in a distinctive and ownable voice, without relying too heavily on the badge".

Obviously the Pack is Back with a typographic Vengeance.