We are Girls in Sport
When I was approached about branding for ‘We are Girls in Sport, their passion to create a brand to inspire and support teenagers through sport shone through. As the mum of three girls, encouraging them to be healthy and active is a subject close to my heart, so I instantly wanted to be involved in the project.
The Challenge
How to reach & motivate teenage girls to pursue a new sport?
The benefits of sport on physical and mental health are well documented and incredibly powerful, but for young girls, finding a sport they love can be daunting. The transition from primary to secondary school is tricky and many extra-curricular activities go by the wayside, including sports.
The vision of We are Girls in Sport was to become a global movement to encourage and inspire more girls to find and take up a sport they enjoy. They also wanted it to be a platform to share the achievements of girls and young women on the international sporting stage.
Initially in the form of a social media campaign, with future expansion plans, they needed a brand identity which would appeal to their teenage audience and convey their values of fun, strength and energy.
As a mother of three girls, I felt particularly passionate about being involved with this project as I had personal experience of my children’s interest in sport declining as they reached their teenage years. It was only chance conversations that inspired them to try out new activities, and whilst campaigns such as This Girl Can existed for women, I felt that We are Girls in Sport were filling a much-needed sports awareness void for teenage girls.
Services
- Strategy
- Branding
- Logo Design
- Brand Guidelines
- Merchandise
The Design Process
Following research with the target audience, we created a strong, bright identity using distressed, block typography. Positioning the type on an angle gives the impression of the logo being stamped on the page, but it also challenges the logo to be visually different from other logos, which fits with the values of the brand.
The letter ‘O’ incorporates a star to represent winning performance, and this has also been turned into an icon which has been used in the brand colours across social media. The bright, vibrant colour palette of purple, orange, magenta and cyan brings an element of stand-out fun to the logo, to appeal to the teenage audience.
Brand guidelines and social media templates were created to maintain consistent styling across the brand.
The Results
We are Girls in Sport is a fun and actively growing social media campaign. Olympic, Commonwealth and high-profile sport event coverage provides commentary on elite sporting achievements, but these are interspersed with athlete interviews and reporting on more obscure sports to inspire and educate young girls.
Caroline Kings, We are Girls in Sport
Brand Development – Play On Campaign
More recently, We are Girls in Sports have launched ‘Play On’ via social media, to campaign for free sanitary wear in sporting facilities. Working alongside a copywriter, I was involved in creating the design style for the online social media graphics and posters, which was challenging as they needed to be visually impactful, yet tasteful. Using a simple, continuous line drawing style for the sporting figures, it allowed for the focus to be on the red area, highlighting the need for period wear during sports. The campaign has been well-received and has resulted in significant conversations with sporting organisations.
Fay is an extremely talented graphic designer. We have previously worked together on the We are Girls in Sport branding. During our initial conversations, it was clear that Fay was interested – this wasn’t just a ‘job’ to her. This interest then feeds into the care she puts into her designs.
Recently, Fay worked on creating the assets for an online campaign for We are Girls in Sport. The brief was brief, and she didn’t have much time to work on it. But what she produced for ‘Play On’ met the brief, hit the deadline, and the designs were beautiful and impactful. Fay is professional, diligent and a great communicator. I would highly recommend her.
Caroline Kings, We are Girls in Sport
