AO San Francisco

An identity for a thriving American soccer supporters' group.

The American soccer landscape is diverse. At every level, there are organizations who need public-facing brands: clubs, leagues, compeitions, and, notably, supporters groups.

I've been fortunate to work with several prominent supporters groups, and the American Outlaws are one of the coolest. A national organization, they have chapters in cities and towns all across the country. The unifying goal: support the U.S. national soccer teams through thick and thin.

I worked with AO's San Francisco chapter, one of the largest in the country, to create an identity for the group. The idea was to capture aspects of San Francisco in a way that seemed obvious without being cliche, and to create a mark that felt at home in the soccer universe. AOSF also wanted some flexibility to adapt the mark to different contexts, including options that supported multilingual messaging.

Once the basic composition was ready–including landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Coit Tower, as well as San Francisco's famous hills and rolling fog–I created a variety of interpretations that brought the identity to life. (A few of the alternate versions even reference the famous "captain's wheel" motif found in the signage around Fisherman's Wharf.)

The primary color scheme, of rusty reds, greyish blues and navy, finds a common ground between San Francisco colors (the bridge, the fog, and the hills at night) and traditional American red, white and blue. Importantly, the identity is modular: the elements in the mark can be separated and remixed independently to create new visual ideas that connect to the primary brand.

AO San Francisco has embraced the new mark, and it proudly graces apparel and digital media.