The Brief

Sport Lisboa e Benfica, commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.

The current crest is composed of an eagle, as a symbol of independence, authority and nobility, atop a red and white shield that symbolises bravery and peace. The motto 'E plurbus unum' ('Out of many, one') defines the union between the players. The clubs initials 'SLB' are placed atop a football. All of which is then superimposed on a bicycle wheel representing the club's first sport, cycling.

For use in the modern, digital world, the current crest is overcomplicated and outdated. It loses legibility when scaled down and doesn't work well in monochrome. The goal of this project is to modernise the club's logo and visual identity whilst keeping it faithful to the legacy of the club.

The Solution

The new crest design is all about communicating the same messages as the old badge, but making it simpler and less literal so that it can be used more practically. The new crest retains all the important elements of the old and removes the unnecessary details that reduced legibility. 

The eagle, shield and football have been kept as they are core elements of the club. The motto (repurposed in other parts of the identity, as this is still important but not necessary on the badge) , bicycle wheel and 'SLB' banner have been removed as they overcomplicate the badge. The new crest also has the date the club was founded, emphasising the importance of the club's history.

It was also important to create a full logo suite for when the branding is used in different situations. The crest can be shown alone. When only the wordmark is required, it can be separated from the crest. At smaller scales, the wordmark can be reduced to a lettermark of 'SLB' and the eagle can be taken off the shield and used as an icon mark.

The colours have been changed to only include red and white, reinforcing the meaning behind them, bravery and peace. When a third colour is required, a very dark red can be used.