NH1 simplified Hyderabad FC's Charminar crest to work beyond the pitch and on screens

A rushed launch had left the new club without a strong bond to its city; the identity also had to cut through 'the vast sea of reds and blues' of other ISL kits.

Redraw the Charminar crest into a simplified, digital-ready mark — heritage respected, but built for avatars, filters and feeds, 'beyond the pitch'.

Simplified redrawn crest keeping the Charminar, Hyderabad's most prominent landmark; HYD wordmark and yellow-and-black colours retained from the previous identity and echoed in home and away kits; with the pandemic forcing an online launch, NH1 built Instagram stories, a face filter, social media guidelines and templates for the in-house team.

Rebrand announced to fans online with digital jersey releases; no commercial figures reported.

Hyderabad FC was young and rootless: formed after Pune City was disbanded in 2019 amid controversies, the club's stake was sold, it moved cities and changed its name, then began its first Indian Super League season that same year. The rushed turnaround, Design Week reported, left much about the club unfinished — including its bond with a home city it had inherited rather than grown from. NH1 Design was brought in to fix that.

The centre of the new look is a redrawn club crest. Like its predecessor it features the Charminar mosque, Hyderabad's most prominent landmark, but simplified. Founder and creative director Neha Tulsian said the intention was to retain and respect the city's heritage while ensuring the crest works in digital formats: football crests once drew on heraldry representing their cities, but intricate imagery 'doesn't translate well digitally', so the system was designed 'beyond the pitch' with 'new-age implementations' in mind.

The HYD wordmark and the yellow-and-black scheme were retained from the previous identity — familiarity, plus contrast: few teams worldwide use the pairing, helping the club stand out against 'the vast sea of reds and blues' of ISL kits, and matching the home and away jersey colours. With the pandemic forcing the launch online, NH1 also delivered social media guidelines and templates, Instagram-first content including stories and a face filter, and digital jersey releases.

A club relocated mid-life has no organic fanbase in its new city, so the city's own landmark had to carry the identity.

Digital channels — avatars, stories, filters — are where a young club meets fans, so the crest had to survive small sizes.

Yellow and black are rare in world football, giving the club instant distinctiveness in a league of reds and blues.

The pandemic launch made Instagram the de facto stadium, so the brand system shipped as social tooling, not a style PDF.

Relocated clubs inherit no fandom: simplify the city's landmark into a digital-native crest and let the kit colours do the differentiating.

The rebrand was announced to fans online in January 2021, with jersey releases and fan content running digitally; Design Week's report carried no membership, merchandising or attendance figures.