For those who’re a nerd of a sure age, the crimson and yellow Video games Workshop brand will probably be instantly acquainted. It as soon as emblazoned the little retailers in metropolis centres throughout the nation the place you may purchase little plastic (or resin, or pewter) males (or elves, or dwarfs) and battle them towards each other utilizing an arcane algorithm.These retailers, as soon as merely referred to as Video games Workshop, now confer with themselves as Warhammer in an try and affiliate the model extra intently with the video games being performed quite than the company entity behind them, which has gone on to turn into one in all Britain’s nice success tales. The Nottingham-based agency shared £18 million with workers in 2024 following pre-tax income within the a whole bunch of tens of millions.So maybe it was inevitable that, having divorced the id of its merchandise from the corporate behind them, it might succumb to the clear, dare we name it uninteresting, brand development that’s seen entities equivalent to Google, Fb and Jaguar undertake a line of sans-serif textual content over beforehand recognisable wordmarks.
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(Picture credit score: Video games Workshop)The change hasn’t occurred to the Warhammer and Warhammer Neighborhood websites, they nonetheless have the hammer brand on them, and it hasn’t occurred to pages like Video games Workshop’s retailer community assets listing, nevertheless it’s on the tabletop gaming big’s jobs web page, and on the high of the timeline it maintains to chart the corporate’s historical past, the place you’ll see different fascinating makes use of of typography such because the fantastic previous White Dwarf journal masthead from 1977, which actually does appear to be one thing Tolkien would have authorized of.Dig a bit of deeper, and you will discover pictures of the primary ever Video games Workshop retailer in Hammersmith, equivalent to on this information story from En World. It’s a unique medieval typeface, however nonetheless ties in with the fantasy battles the corporate was portraying. This was nicely earlier than the launch of the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000, however the store nonetheless references science fiction on its signal.In reality, the brand new typeface could also be a name again to the one used on this unbelievable effort from 1975, a befuddled-looking mouse below textual content of questionable kerning that screams of the type of home-made design the corporate was utilizing in its earliest days. Because the timeline web page reveals, a detailed runner up as the corporate identify was ‘Video games Storage’.Sans serif fonts are perceived as being extra fashionable, one thing that an organization (and certainly human) is anxious to show because it approaches center age. They’re additionally friendlier and extra approachable, particularly to youthful prospects, although that’s in all probability much less of a consideration for GW right here, because it’s not utilizing the brand new brand for its retail shops. They’re additionally simpler to drop into totally different design contexts, and that is one thing the most effective logos are able to whereas remaining distinct and immediately recognisable, and are available out nicely on workplace laser printers too.Each day design information, opinions, how-tos and extra, as picked by the editors.So what’s occurred right here is that the consumer-facing shops have accomplished their rebrand to Warhammer, and the corporate behind them can now turn into the type of entity that concentrates on pensions and cleansing contracts for its buildings. It might have Wooden Elves and Flawless Blades up in arms (a number of arms, if you happen to’re in a genestealer cult), nevertheless it’s precisely the type of factor you’d count on a contemporary firm to do.Video games Workshop has been approached for remark.
