The Greater Western Sydney Giants, an Australian Football League club based in Sydney Olympic Park, launched its visual identity on November 16, 2010, when the official name, logo and team colours were announced.[1] The club’s mark is built around a bold, stylised “G” in orange, a design that has remained the core of the identity since the club’s formation ahead of its 2012 AFL debut.
Design and History
The branding for the new club was developed by the brand strategy company Principals, which was appointed in July 2010 to create the brand identity including the logo.[2] Senior designer and art director Gabriel Mello worked on the project at Principals, describing the goal as creating an identity that would “break with conventions” for a club that could not trade on history and tradition.[3]
The agency chose the name Giants from 20,000 suggestions put forward by people living in the greater western Sydney catchment area.[4] The logo of a bold “G” with the catchline “Think big, live big, play big” was developed to reflect the ambitions of the community, according to the club’s then chief executive, Dale Holmes.[4]
At the 2010 launch, the club unveiled two prospective guernseys for fans to vote on ahead of the 2012 debut. One was orange with a large, stylised “G” in the centre and charcoal strips on the sides; the other featured orange in the top half and a white “G” wrapped around charcoal colours in the bottom half.[5]
For the club’s 10th season in 2021, the Giants introduced a new jumper design developed with new apparel partner PUMA. The traditional orange and charcoal home jumper saw the Giants “G” feature more prominently on the front rather than positioned to the side as in previous years.[6] The club also moved away from its predominantly white clash strip to an all-orange design with a charcoal “G” featured prominently on the front.[6] A bespoke 10-year logo featured inside the collar of all jumpers to mark the milestone.[6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The club’s colours are orange, charcoal and white.[5] The club said the colours represent the Western sunset, the Blue Mountains and the granite of the Great Dividing Range.[7] The club’s determination to take risks and “think big” was the inspiration behind the choice of nickname and colours, according to CEO Dale Holmes.[8]
The club has described the “G” as an iconic and emblematic element of its identity. In 2022, when the AFLW program adopted the same jumper design as the AFL team, club captain Alicia Eva said that pulling on “the orange and charcoal with the iconic ‘G’ logo” represents the club, its regions and its communities.[9]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
