Jack Riewoldt has revealed the story behind the creation of the Tasmanian AFL team’s Devils logo.

REVEALED – A car ride on the state’s West Coast, Tassie apple crates and a room plastered with mock-ups – the making of the Tasmanian AFL team’s Devils logo:

Jack Riewoldt at The20 with designers of the Tasmania Football Club devil logo. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

It took teamwork to make the dream work when it came to designing the logo for Tasmania’s AFL team and Jack Riewoldt could not be more happy with the final result, saying the mean, green Devil has teeth.

A four-member design team from The20 creative agency in Hobart turned the vision into reality.

The result was a ferocious devil, the design embracing Tasmania’s proud history and traditions with its unique wildlife and its heritage footy colours into an image nicknamed The Wild.

“The creatives have done a fantastic job,” Riewoldt said.

“I’m absolutely stoked with it.

“It’s an important piece that has a traditional aspect to it with the colours, there’s a real pop about it with the way it has been designed and the visual aspect of it.

“It’s a great first step for the club.”

Jack Riewoldt at The20 with designers of the Tasmania Football Club devil logo. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

On his way to his first community engagement event at Queenstown in December, Riewoldt passed through Roseberry where he was inspired by the town logo, elements of which made it to the logo’s final cut.

“I was driving from Devonport with [Tasmanian sport commentator] Al Nicholson and I saw that logo and we stopped and I took a photo,” Riewoldt said.

“It was actually a tiger but it has devilish features about it.

“It [the photo] was all part of what went into the way the emblem was made – never could I have imagined the logo looking as good as it does.”

The20 crew took four weeks, more than 100 designs taking inspiration from things like apple crate labels, other club logos and the Tasmanian devil itself.

Adrian Bell Deputy Creative Director, Zoe Lovell Graphic Designer, Jack Riewoldt, Angie Miller Senior Designer, Jay Perrett Senior Art Director. Jack Riewoldt at The20 creative agency in Hobart with designers of the Tasmania Football Club devil logo. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Their studio was plastered in mock-ups as they worked to reach the final cut.

“It was a process of creating the images and it covered all sorts of fields – trying to find something that would breach club and culture, something not too clubby and not too loose, so it was a bit of a balancing act,” said deputy creative director Adrian Bell.

“There were a lot of variations trying not to make it too ‘logoey’ – pulling back from that and keeping it more illustrated than graphic.”

Find your Tasmania Devils poster in The Mercury Newspaper’s print edition on Thursday, April 11.

It was all about the “attitude” of the devil.

“We didn’t want the devil to face the audience because that felt too aggressive, so we went side-on, which gave a more tenacious feel,” said senior art director Jay Perrett.

The intensity of the four-week assignment created a gem.

“We really wanted it to feel confident and sure in its own style – we’re Tasmania, we don’t have to go into the AFL in the same way other clubs have done,” said senior designer Angie Miller.

“We wanted to go in proud and strong and Tasmanian, and I think the illustration really does that.”

For Jack, the devil branding will represent the strength of the team when it debuts in the AFL in 2028, and the women in the AFLW possibly from as early as 2027.

“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” Riewoldt said.

“It goes with the sense of the old and new with the way the club has been launched, the heritage of the foundation jumper, which is a real testament to the history of Tasmanian footy, and then there’s embarking on this huge journey with the logo, The Wild.

“Not everyone is going to love it, but overall I think the Tasmanian people are very proud of the way they are going to be represented.”