Professional women’s soccer is on the rise – as one of the fastest-growing domestic and international sports that’s inspiring a new generation of young athletes around the world. It’s no wonder that Denver locals hope to bring a professional team of their own to Colorado, a place with a longtime connection to the sport. Partnering with full-service design studio Wunder Werkz, a group of investors and community leaders launched “For Denver FC” (FDFC) – an initiative aimed at building a movement to bring a professional women’s soccer team to Colorado by 2026.

“For Denver FC” is spearheaded by Colorado residents including former National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) player Jordan Angeli and Ben Hubbard, the founder and CEO of insurance company Parsyl. They found an ideal creative partner in local studio Wunder Werkz, who embraced the project as a chance to cross cultures and generations, championing a sport that can tie a community together.

“Both Jordan and Ben were very passionate about bringing professional women’s soccer to Denver and had a very modern and inclusive vision,” explains Jon Hartman, Partner at Wunder Werkz. “This is a state that a lot of current NWSL players and even United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) stars call home. It only makes sense to establish a local team that they can represent in the Mile High City as well.”

Collaborating with experienced soccer marketing firm Skylark, the Wunder Werkz team leveraged the existing enthusiasm and buzz from the 2023 Women’s World Cup to time launching a brand anchored in local pride. Beyond engaging female soccer players and young girls, their goal was to think outside the box to create a brand that enlisted all sports fans, regardless of gender.

Wunder Werkz led creation of the overall “For Denver FC” identity, including custom illustrations, color palette, typographic systems, layout and design systems. This was applied across a range of merchandise and promotional touchpoints including t-shirts, bumper stickers, scarves, posters and a microsite. Great care was taken to engage fans beyond women’s soccer, including lovers of biking, hiking, skiing, rock climbing and the other action sports that are popular locally. Bold yet personal, pairing handwritten text with strong sans-serifs, the visuals purposefully eschew traditional sport motifs and speak to a softer, more nature-inspired design system that echoes the Colorado way of life.

“We wanted to specifically tie the visuals to the natural landscape of the state,” says Wunder Werkz designer, Madison Van Ausdall. “Colorado has iconic visuals that were important to us to highlight such as the pine trees, mountains, and color palette that reflects the changing of seasons. Doing this allowed us to immediately connect the effort to launch this team to the community that will support it.”

Also central to the effort was a series of pre-addressed cards given to supporters – designed to be sent to Denver’s new mayor as part of an influence campaign. Signed by locals at “For Denver FC” World Cup watch parties and other events, more than one thousand of these postcards will be delivered to the mayor’s office demonstrating the passionate level of support the initiative quickly earned. The first event hit capacity with lines around the block, leading to the collection of over 500 cards. Over the course of the launch week alone, FDFC added 900 email signups with 90% of polled participants expressing interest in season tickets for the speculative pro women’s soccer team.

For Wunder Werkz, “For Denver FC” was more than a creative opportunity, but a chance to empower others and help them reflect their pride in their local community. “Denver is our home, so we had a really good understanding of what makes this place special and how to capture it,” says Hartman. “Our studio is over 50% female, including at the partner level, so bringing professional women’s soccer to Colorado held a special significance to our team. The fact that we were able to successfully create a soccer brand in a way that felt fresh and inventive, while still being rooted in place, is extremely satisfying. We hope, with our work on ‘For Denver FC’, we brought a fairly unique view on what a sports campaign could and should be.”

The “For Denver FC” name is a placeholder evoking the spirit of building a club for the community, with the “FC” signifying “For Colorado” and a nod to the type of club the group plans to establish in Denver. Once the team joins a league, community input will help guide the team’s eventual name and identity for all soccer fans in the Mile High City.