We are super proud to announce the launch of the new names and logos for our WFTDA aligned A and B teams; we are now officially named Nottingham Roller Derby Arrows and Nottingham Roller Derby Bolts. The pin-up girl in Nottingham Roller Derby’s logo is an important part of our history. It speaks to where we came from and the rebirth of the sport around the world just a few years ago. But now, with a membership and community that has become more diverse over the last few years, NRD have decided to move forward onto the next chapter and retire our old logo and team names, making way for an exciting new identity that is less gender-centric and more representative of who we are as a sports organisation.
Last year, we dropped the name Nottingham Roller Girls and renamed our WFTDA aligned A and B teams to ‘Arrows’ and ‘Bolts’. To complete our transformation, we’ve produced two new logos that we’ll be using from now on.
How we did it:
NRD has a small artwork group who normally undertake our design work. But to make sure we got something as big as this rebrand right, we added a couple more people, also with graphic design experience, to help out with the rebrand project.
1.Concept stage:
This is where we set goals, looked for inspiration, made mood boards on Pinterest and did the main bulk of the design work. This culminated in concepts for the design team to use as a starting point and decide upon a direction.
2. Concept development phase
Out of the initial stage, there were two clear front runners which we wanted to pursue. We all loved the text within the arrow and bolt shapes, but felt like the shield design fitted with NRD more. We merged the designs together and started working on details of the shapes, looking at perspective, refining the text within, and looking at how to incorporate the ‘Nottingham Roller Derby’ text.
3. Concept finalisation
We introduced our design to coaches and captains and spent another month tweaking and changing little bits. The main changes here were to the lightning shape, Arrow shape and line thicknesses.
4. Announcement
And here they are! We proudly present the new branding for Nottingham Roller Derby Arrows and Bolts.
We love our new team names and logos and can’t wait to show them off when our new tees arrive. The teams will still compete in our classic green Nottingham Roller Derby jerseys, so you’ll see these logos as patches added to our game day tops. And, of course, make sure you save some pennies because we’ll be producing new Arrows and Bolts merch that will be on sale at our next home game as soon as it’s safe!