1. What Types of Clubs use Badges?
According to wikipedia in the UK the types of clubs that exist in the UK are based around
A. Country or Sports Club
Sports clubs for us are the number one type of club that will require badges to personalise the teamwear. Within this category of of club football clubs are the number one user of badges.
B. Hobby Clubs
Hobby clubs are just that, set up by individuals based around a hobby or interest. Popular hobby clubs that we have found have been based around motorsport like Lambretta scooters and classic car types like Jaguar.
C. Professional Societies & Associations
These type of clubs tend to need badges based around events that they hold. Name badges are a popular type of badge required by Professional societies as well as badges displaying their logo.
D. School Clubs
These are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of classes. These clubs can range from chess clubs to Rugby clubs. Both types need badges that represent their logo on.
2. How to Make a Badge Design for a Club
To start to make a badge you need to create a badge design. Once you have your badge design you can produce it.The thing is there are various ways a badge can be produced, they can be printed on paper and card, as well as the ways we will discuss which are as embroidered badges, woven badges and as iron on transfers. We discuss these because these are the types of badges that are used as club badges.
When wanting to get a badge design people often start searching on the internet and will see if there is an online tool that designs a badge.
The thing is that a badge design for a club will vary so much from club to club. This is because the type of club will have a bearing on how detailed a badge may be. For instance a business may want a badge that shows their multi coloured badge whereas a professional society may on require a name based type badge.
For detailed badges like a company logo or a football club badge, there are online websites that offer a basic design tool to design your own club badge.
The downside is that the design options are very limited. For instance in many cases of free online badge creators you get a choice of basic graphic images to include in your badge design and will be limited to keying in the clubs name.
So the badge design is limited to these 2 things. These online badge design creators can be found by searching free badge design, free badge maker or free badge template.
As well as being limited in these 2 ways the quality of the badge will not be good enough to print from without paying a charge to be allowed to save it as a jpeg file or something like this.
We at Your Football Club offer a custom badge design service where after asking a few questions about what a client wants we will design a badge around the agreed details known as a badge design brief. This way a client does not need to actually do nothing and they get a professionally designed badge and it is supplied as a high quality print file. In between our bespoke badge design service and a free template badge design service is our other badge design service called Instant badges.
3. What is a Logo Design and What is a Badge Design for Clubs?
A logo is a graphic that represents something, usually being an entity or an individual. Furthermore it is a visual trademark, emblem, or sign that aids and promotes public recognition and identification. It may have an abstract or figurative design or contain the name it stands for as a wordmark.
However, did you realise there are seven distinct categories of logos?
A. Monogram Logos also Known as Lettermarks
Letter-based logos, such as monograms or lettermarks, typically feature brand initials. An example in the UK is BBC, rather than using British Broadcasting Company their logo design uses their initials.
Even though it uses just 3 letters the font and colouring choice makes it as distinctive of any other logo. Over the years the font style has been updated so it clearly stays relevant and up to date.
No doubt costing many thousands of pounds to hire the logo design agency there will be a whole lot of logo and branding guidelines that will explain how to use the logo properly.
B. Wordmarks (or Logotypes)
A wordmark or logotype is a font-based logo that emphasises a company’s name only, much like a lettermark does. Think of Audi cars or even Google. When a company has a short and memorable name, wordmark logos perform exceptionally well. A good illustration of this is the Google logo. When paired with powerful typography and the distinctive and memorable name, the logo contributes to a strong sense of brand identification.
Since people will be drawn to your name, you should choose a font—or make one yourself—that perfectly expresses what your company does. In contrast to legal or government organisations, which almost always use conventional, “heavier” type that seems secure, fashion brands typically utilise clean, attractive fonts that have a high-end vibe.
When Best to use Lettermark and Wordmark Logos
If the name of your company is lengthy, think about using a lettermark as a logo. Your design will be simpler if you shorten the company name into initials, and customers will find it easier to remember you and your logo.
A wordmark is a wise choice if you are a new business. Just make sure that name is brief enough to benefit from the design if you’re a new company and need to get your name out there. Anything that is too long may appear cluttered.
If your company name is memorable and distinct, using a wordmark logo is a smart move. Your brand will become much more memorable if it is written in a beautiful, well-designed font.
Both lettermark and wordmark logos are simple to use in branding and marketing materials, making them excellent choices for a startup or growing company.
Remember that whether making a lettermark or a wordmark, you’ll want to be meticulous. It’s unlikely that your company name in a single typeface will be distinctive enough to convey the subtle nuances of your brand.
Therefore, be sure to choose a skilled specialist with a keen eye for detail.
C. Pictorial Marks (or Logo Symbols)
An icon, often known as a graphic-based logo, is a pictorial mark, sometimes known as a brand mark or logo sign. The iconic Apple logo, the Twitter bird, and the facebook F are perhaps the first things that come to mind when you think “logo.” Each of these organisations’ logos is so iconic, and each brand is so well-known, that just the symbol itself commands recognition. An image is all that a true brand mark is.
Because of this, using this sort of logo can be challenging for startups or businesses with weak brand recognition.
What image to use is the most important factor to take into account when selecting to use a pictorial mark. This is something that will endure for the duration of your business.
You must consider the image’s broader meanings. Do you want to play off your name, like John Deere does with its deer logo? Do you intend to convey a deeper message, similar to how Snapchat’s ghost explains what the app does?
Or do you want to elicit a feeling (as the World Wildlife Foundation does with its stylised depiction of a cute and endangered creature like the panda)?
D. Abstract Logo’s
One particular kind of pictorial logo is an abstract mark. It reflects your company but isn’t a familiar image like an apple or a bird; rather, it’s an abstract geometric shape. Some well-known examples are the Pepsi divided circle, the Adidas flower, and the BP starburst logo. Abstract markings, like other logo symbols, are very effective at encapsulating your brand in a single visual. However, abstract logos provide you the freedom to develop something completely original to represent your company rather from being limited to a picture of a recognisable object.
The advantage of using an abstract logo is that you can symbolically communicate what your firm does without depending on the cultural connotations of a particular image.
E. Mascot Logos
Mascot logos are those that feature a cartoonish character. The mascot logo is a terrific approach to develop your own brand spokesperson, or character, as it is frequently bright, occasionally cartoonish, and almost always amusing. A mascot style logo is a popular choice to be used as a badge. Badges are basically a logo design encapsulated into a badge so it can be used on primarily on clothing but not always.
If you want to appeal to small children or families, consider making a mascot. A mascot has many advantages, one of which is that it can promote client contact, making it an excellent tool for both offline and online marketing campaigns.
F. The Combination Logo
A combination mark is a logo that combines a wordmark or lettermark with a visual, abstract, or mascot element. In order to produce an image, the text and image can be combined, layered on top of one another, or set out side by side.
This type of logo design is especially popular as a club badge.
This club badge uses exactly the features of a combination logo.
A combination mark is a flexible option because a name is connected to the image, and the text and icon or mascot both support your brand. People will instantly start to connect your name with your mascot or graphic mark if you use a combo mark! In the future, you might only need to use a logo symbol and not constantly mention your name. Additionally, this form of logo is typically simpler to trademark than a pictorial mark alone because the combination of a symbol and text makes a distinctive image together.
G. The Emblem Logo
An emblem logo is perhaps the closest form of a club badge and particularly a sports badge.
Consider badges, seals, and crests as examples of emblem logos, which contain text inside of an image or symbol. These logos frequently have a classic look to them that can leave a lasting impression, which is why many clubs favour them. Emblem logos are also quite popular in the automotive business, where a badge type logo is required.
However, they can sometimes be less adaptable than the aforementioned kinds of logos due to their tendency toward greater depth and the fact that the word and symbol are strictly intertwined.
It is difficult to recreate a complex emblem and a complicated emblem may go so small on business cards before it gets too difficult to read.
So there needs to be a consideration of what type of badge your emblem logo is going to be. This is because if it is to be an embroidered badge then the design cannot be too complex.
However if the badge is to be an iron on transfer badge then the digitally way of printing these does not limit the design because in most cases it can be printed exactly as designed.
We have written a bit more detail about what are the types of badges because it makes sense to know what type of badge you want before designing it.
4. What are the Different Types of Badges for Clubs?
There is a huge choice when it comes to options for club badges. However we have listed here what we find are the most popular types of club badges.
Cloth Badges
Cloth badges are either an embroidered badge or a woven badge that looks very similar.
Embroidered badges are made of stitching threads into a base cloth. The raised stitching gives an overall textured feel.
Unlike embroidered badges woven badges feature threads which are woven together to form your badge design.
Embroidered badges and woven badges are ideal for scouts or guides clubs and groups, sports teams, school awards and even uniforms.
We explain what the differences are on our post What is the Difference Between Embroidered Badges and Woven Badges?
To further add more decision making to deciding what club badge to have both embroidered badges and woven badges come as a sew on version or the very same badge with an iron on backing. The advantage of having iron on badges is that they can be simply applied using a very hot iron or a heat press.
This brings us onto another badge type that is popular with clubs.
These are:
Iron on Transfers
Iron on transfers themselves are available as different types.
The most popular type of iron on transfer badges for clubs are digital transfers. Digital transfers are a full colour printed badge which is on vinyl. The iron on backing allows the digital transfer badge to be ironed onto clothing quickly and easily by using a hot iron or better still a heat press. They are popular with clubs because they are cheap to buy and easy to apply.
There are other variations like DST transfers that are suitable for short run printing where the colours are to be vibrant and the badge needs to be durable. There are also other custom iron on transfers called Plastisol, hot split transfers and sublimation transfers that are all suitable as badges for clubs.