Nearly two weeks after the 2023/2024 season ended, Aston Villa, playing in England’s Premier League, unveiled a new logo, replacing the circular emblem that was adopted just in November 2022 after a fan vote.
Two aspects have marked the past season for the club. Firstly, Aston Villa has taken the fourth place, marking a relative success after many years of being an underdog. The latest time when the team reached such a position was in the 1995/1996 season. Led by Unai Emery, who was hired in November 2022, as the head coach, Aston Villa returned to the UEFA Conference League and then qualified for the UEFA Champions League.
On the other hand, there was some embarrassment upon the club’s visual identity. Although AV’s jerseys and merchandise featured the round logo, the team continued using its old shield in its communications.
Aston Villa’s players and employees reportedly didn’t feel represented by the roundel. One of the critical remarks was that the emblem was too much like the logo of Chelsea. So the club’s management decided to bring back the shield design. Unlike the previous update, there was no vote on it.
Although restored, the shield has nevertheless undergone some changes, which are partly connected with AV’s 150th anniversary to be celebrated this year. The club hasn’t, so far, provided any additional information about the redesign. However, the image of the new logo reveals that some adjustments in the color palette and typography.
While the refreshed shield retains the general design of the 2016 iteration, the differences are obvious at first glance. The form of the emblem was altered to have a slightly curved upper edge and two-color bordering. The lion with the star is turned to the left again, but it now looks dimensional due to thin shadowing. Besides, the creature is repositioned higher to give place to the inscriptions “1874” and “ASTON VILLA”, instead of “AVFC” in the old version.
Claret and Sky Blue are still the official colors of the club. However, Claret is visibly darker now, while Sky Blue remained the same. Additionally, the visual identity includes yellow reserved for the lion.
When it comes to typography, Aston Villa will use Medula One, a stylish sans-serif typeface developed by LatinoType. The font is already applied to the headlines on the club’s official website and mobile app.
Aston Villa hasn’t presented a jersey design yet. However, supposed versions of the team’s home kit appeared on the web, based on a leaked teaser image. In this connection, we can also mention another novelty for the club: Aston Villa has entered into a contract with Adidas for the first time in its history, which was announced on May 20th.
