The Victoria Park Vixens Visual Identity Refresh: A Touch of Femininity and Inclusivity in Football
Victoria Park Vixens, a women’s football club based in London, England, has reached a breakthrough—perhaps the first of its kind. Unlike other football clubs which are often precursored by a men’s team and then followed by the establishment of a women’s team, Victoria Park Vixens has instead done the opposite. Toward the end of 2022, said club formed a men’s team in an effort to make the club more inclusive as well as bridge the gap between men's and women’s football.
In the beginning of 2023, the Victoria Park Vixens opened the doors to a new era in its legacy by inviting La De La Studio in refreshing their brand. Kieran Rid, a designer and Art Director at La De La Studio, said that his involvement in this rebrand endeavor began when he himself was invited by Dan Sandison, Co-Founder of Mundial Magazine, to join the Victoria Park Vixens men's team. In that moment, Rid was introduced to the women behind the Victoria Park Vixens and grew even more amazed as when he saw how this club was managed and developed.
According to Rid, since he was asked to get involved in this project by Morgan Brennan, founder of Victoria Park Vixens, felt that Rid would be the ideal person to visualize the club's new era. “An offer I was more than happy to explore,” Rid remarked. “The club had developed in so many new directions since it launched in 2019 and they wanted a refresh that reflected where they were currently at, moving away from being specifically a football club, to something wider reaching, adaptable and inclusive.”
Rid and La De La Studio were tasked with a visual identity refresh and kit design. Although Rid was clearly familiar and personally involved with the club, he still treated the club as he would any other client. For Rid, he saw the potential for a significant rebrand from his initial discussions with the Victoria Park Vixens team. He included Morgan Brennan and the Victoria Park Vixens creative team in the early stages of the idea development process through research and understanding why the club would benefit from a refresh as well as what that refresh needed to achieve. “We then carried out the initial concept phases and the visual identity took shape from there,” Rid revealed.
Rid explained that after they designed the new visual identity, the next step was to explore new kit designs. He added that they presented this new visual identity to brands they felt would fit with the values and aesthetic of Victoria Park Vixens. Rid remarked, ”Eventually [we landed] on Kappa as the ideal collaborator who were happy to give full creative freedom on the design of the kits.”
The project took around eight months to complete from the initial research stage up to the team finally appearing in this truly new look on the field. All concepts and ideas were based on the initial research stage where they were able to determine all the things that needed to be refreshed. In Rid’s own words, “It was apparent that the club were looking for something that broke away from the footballing norms, something that felt contemporary and exciting, and ultimately something that gave the players a sense of pride.”
During the visual identity design process, Rid began the exploration by building upon the existing branding. However, he felt that this was actually holding him back from imbuing something new into the club’s visual identity. Rid explained, “From there I experimented with different directions, some were classic feeling, whilst others had a more contemporary style. The crest that we eventually developed doesn’t really sit in any particular era. I think it is important [to] create something that is futureproof, and ideally timeless when working on visual identities. I guess only time will truly tell us whether I have succeeded in that.”
The new Victoria Park Vixens visual identity design presents a logo club crest that displays the ‘VPV’ initials in the form of a vixen’s silhouette—something that ties into the club's name, ethos, and also a reference to the foxes and vixens often seen wandering the streets of East London. In terms of color selection, the palette used still carries on and maintains the traditions of the club. Claret dominates as the primary color of the visual identity as well as the home kit colors.
The kit design created by Rid successfully marries sport, graphic design, and fashion. According to Rid, there were many considerations regarding how to best blend these three elements. He explained that the home kits were designed to be minimalist with the claret color accompanied by thin green pinstripes to add a touch of luxury. “We wanted these shirts to look as good off the pitch as they do on it, so for that reason the Kappa and VPV logos are stacked, this keeps them on full display when layered with a jacket for those colder months in London, and there is no shortage of those,” Rid explained. For Rid, both symmetrical logos add to the aesthetic and are “a match made in heaven.”
On the other hand, the away kits were developed from the previously bright green Victoria Park Vixens jersey into a darker green color. “It felt more sophisticated this way,” Rid opined. The away kit also has white collars and cuffs with black dashes inspired by the black wrought iron fencing around Victoria Park itself. The new designs of both the home and away kits successfully brings a breath of fresh air into not only the club, but also to the sport in general. Through an intense process and a personal approach, meaning that between the designer and the client, the kits are able to both carry the club’s identity as well as being very well-designed.
For Rid, Kappa was the perfect collaborator from start to finish. He revealed that there was a small change in the size and position of the logo to ensure that the kit remained aligned with Kappa’s brand guidelines. Aside from that, Rid felt like his room to explore was unlimited. “The temptation to do something more expressive was strong, but a show of restraint and focusing on the brief that we had established early on meant that we were able to create the clean minimal shirts that you see today,” he remarked.
Kappa's expertise also came in handy for Rid in choosing the right quality materials for the kit designs. It was Rid’s request to Kappa to use the gold chrome logo, which he felt would elevate the shirt and present the new crest in the best possible way. “They then led the way in terms of selecting the fabric for the kits, et cetera,” Rid remarked. He continued to explain that when it came to material selection, Kappa had far more expertise in jersey fabrics and shapes than he had ever known. He was more than happy to be guided by experts on that front.
Femininity and inclusivity were two things at the forefront of the entire Victoria Park Vixens rebranding project. Rid says he regularly met with the women behind the club to ensure that everything was going in the right direction. The elegant flick of the fox's tail in the logo is a subtle, feminine touch that Rid and Victoria Park Vixens felt was just right without being over the top. “This new refresh needed to represent both the women's and newly established men's teams, so an all encompassing look and feel was key. The kits themselves were designed in unisex cuts, with dark shorts, both of which are examples of important features for the diverse and inclusive community within the club,” Rid explained.
Overall, the visual identity of Victoria Park Vixens designed by Kieran Rid and the team at La De La Studio has given a new feel, without compromising the values that the club holds and the history attached to the club. With a thorough approach and work process, the new visual identity was also successfully imbued on the club's proudly presented kit, making the entire design worthy of appreciation, both in the context of design and football.
