SomeOne wove Norwich City FC a 'digital tapestry' identity from local weaving history

Develop a branding system that was visually impactful but also had deeper meaning, grounded in the club's community and local history.

Use the weaving skill brought to Norfolk by 'The Strangers' to build a digital tapestry that scales from graphics to live goal updates on a phone.

SomeOne worked with a steering committee of staff, board members, club legends and fans. It found The Strangers, who fled religious persecution in the Low Countries and settled in Norfolk in the 14th century, and built a digital tapestry plus a bespoke typeface with Colophon Foundry in preset two-tone colourways.

The source reports no results. The studio's creative director says the aim was a balance between historic and modern, with a more dynamic typeface to speak to a younger digital audience.

In June 2022 Creative Review reported that London design agency SomeOne had revealed its overhaul of the Norwich City FC brand. It followed the studio's work on the club's historic crest, reimagined 50 years after it was created, and covered the rest of the club's visual identity.

SomeOne executive creative director Rich Rhodes said the brief was to develop a branding system that had deeper meaning as well as visual impact. Research involved reaching out to a diverse range of groups and individuals associated with the club, with a steering committee of staff, board members, club legends and fans. The studio also drew on local history and found 'The Strangers', a group that fled religious persecution in the Low Countries and arrived in Norfolk in the 14th century, bringing weaving skills.

That led to a digital tapestry that shows the traditional method of textile production in a modern context, able to scale from graphics to real-time goal updates on a phone. It also inspired a bespoke typeface made with Colophon Foundry, supplied in predetermined two-tone colourways to make life easier for the club's in-house designers and offering the option of use for back-of-shirt design.

Rhodes said some elements, such as the crest, are quite traditional, while the typography is deliberately more dynamic to speak to a younger digital audience. He said the weaving idea is inherently Norwich and Norfolk, so it is more than a beauty parade.

A weaving story ties the identity to the city's own history so fans can recognise it as theirs.

A tapestry that works as pattern and as a live data display lets the same idea run on shirts, screens and goal alerts.

Preset two-tone colourways make the typeface easy for the club's in-house team to apply consistently.

Football identities feel earned when the system comes from a specific local story, here a weaving craft, instead of generic digital polish.

The source reports no results beyond the reveal. This identity follows SomeOne's earlier crest redesign for the club, covered separately.