Swansea Council and Swansea University decided to integrate the sports facilities off Sketty Lane in
Swansea to create a single identity. Swansea Bay Sporks Park was to be the new brand for what was
formerly:
• The Sports Centre of Swansea University, which includes a sports hall, gym, squash courts and
fitness studios
• The Wales National Pool Swansea
• The Athletics and Hockey Centre
jamjar was commissioned to develop a logo and visual identity for Swansea Bay Sports Park which
could be applied across all marketing materials, as well as site signage.
It needed to be influenced by the Sports Park’s location in Swansea Bay and work alongside partner
logos – Swansea University, Sport Swansea, Wales National Pool Swansea, and Swansea Council.
After delving deeper into the facilities, offering and audiences at the Sports Park, three initial logo concepts were created for the client to review, each with a slightly different take on the brief. Following consultation with the client and wider partners, one identity was chosen to develop further.
The chosen identity was inspired by the location of the sports park taking the curves from the
coastline of Swansea Bay. The curves were mirrored, and a horizon line was added to provide a focal point for the eye. The lines were then connected through right angles to make up the shapes from the venue’s name – SBSP from Swansea Bay Sports Park and PCBA from Parc Chwaraeon Bae Abertawe. The interconnecting lines within the icon also helped to unify the three facilities and marry up their audiences. The curves and shapes also helped to visualise direction, movement and the customer journey and could be used as graphical devices to support the brand. To complement the icon, a bold and bright colour palette was chosen to align with the brand colours of Swansea City Council, Swansea University and Sport Swansea.
During the development phase, we experimented with different typefaces, colours and orientations, before refining the chosen identity and applying it to mock ups so the client could get a real sense of how it could work in context.
The final identity features a strong symbol inspired by its Bay location and influenced by the facilities on offer (running track, waves, court lines). Three core lines and colours feature to represent the three main partners and three main audiences (professional athletes, students, local communities) and the icon is capped off by an angular protrusion to symbolise progression in a person’s fitness journey.
Once the identity was signed off, we created brand guidelines to manage how the logo is applied going forward and worked with the team to produce signage for the new integrated facilities and a suite of digital assets to use in marketing materials.
