Sport is the
through line

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Connecting fans to
the teams they love

Launched in 2016, an upstart in the journalism field, The Athletic creates in-depth sports stories, written by a high-calibre roster of writers across local, national and international beats. Fans can access a curated feed of stories and over 100 podcasts through the subscription-based app, allowing them to draw a deeper connection to their favorite teams on a daily basis.

The Athletic has over 1m paid subscribers, placing them in the top 5 of subscribed news sites, along with The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. As their audience continues to grow, they needed to develop their brand story, and expand their creative toolkit.

Strategy

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The Athletic is a source of substance in a sea of spectacle. Their stories create context around the games, delving into deep analytics and personal stories, which enable a greater understanding of the teams and players.

We wanted to capture this sense of care, rigor and optimism as a strategic foundation. The purpose—Immerse fans in the power of sport—places fans first, while recognizing the emotional and cultural impact of sports.

Identity

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The identity builds on the brand’s purpose and is designed to connect fans to sport. Using the inline A as a starting point, the system expands to include the inline throughout the identity, becoming an identifiable and consistent brand signature.

Using slab characters, the new wordmark expresses a thoroughly smart, modern brand with a nostalgic spirit.

In partnership with A2-TYPE, we created a custom inline font, based on A2’s Regular Slab and the logo itself. Designed to be used at headline sizes, the font provides the ability to brand any application, purely with type.