With excitement building around Coventry City’s return to the Premier League, it got me looking back through the archives at some of the projects I’ve worked on with Coventry City Football Club over the years.
One project that still stands out was the recreation of the club’s original 1963 badge for a special commemorative shirt during the 2011–12 season.
Bringing a piece of club history back to life
The brief was to accurately recreate the original Coventry City badge from 1963 so it could be used on a special one-off shirt celebrating the club’s history.
Recreating an historic football badge isn’t simply a case of redrawing a logo. The original artwork had to be carefully studied, with attention given to the shapes, typography, proportions and individual details that made the original badge distinctive.
The finished artwork needed to remain faithful to the original design while being suitable for modern production and application to a football shirt.
Combining heritage with modern production
Projects involving historic brands and logos require a careful balance between preserving the original identity and preparing artwork for contemporary use.
For this project, the focus was on maintaining the character of the 1963 badge while creating clean, accurate artwork that could be reproduced effectively on the commemorative shirt.
It’s the kind of design project where attention to detail really matters. Small changes to proportions, lettering or graphic elements can alter the appearance of an historic identity, so accuracy was key.
A personal project
Having been a lifelong Coventry City supporter, the project had an added significance. Being asked to recreate a piece of the club’s visual history and then seeing it used on a shirt worn by supporters was a particularly memorable moment in my design career.
It’s also a good reminder of how graphic design, branding and artwork can become part of a club’s history, helping preserve visual identities and moments that supporters can connect with for years to come.
Looking back through projects like this is always interesting, particularly when they connect professional design work with something you’re personally passionate about.
Here’s to another chapter in Coventry City’s history.
