Creating an identity for a cycling team that does it their own way
Pro Cycling as a sport has been plagued in recent years by doping scandals. In the midst of this, which threatened the integrity of global appeal of the sport, one team stood apart as the ones openly talking about the subject, and publicly denouncing it as something that happened, but can't continue to. If a rider has used substances to enhance their performance before — fine — but if you're going to be a team member of Ride Argyle, then that will be a thing of the past.
In 2018, EF saved the team from disappearing altogether after negotiations around securing a lead sponsor fell through. Not content with just sponsoring the team, EF fully owns the team, and uses this to really push it to new heights, which has happened as the relationship ventures into a second term in 2019. Teaming up with Rapha as a company that also has a strong international and cultural element to it's brand, the Design & Brand team created the art direction for the new identity.
Make the logo bigger?
The sport is well known for its heavy sponsorship on every conceivable surface of anything to do with a team. Of course, marketing EF on a global scale is a prime motivation for getting involved with a cycling team, so making the logo as big and as visible as possible is a prime concern for internal EF stakeholders.
But simply making the logo bigger doesn't equal strong brand recognition or presence. Consumers often ignore logos that are simply made bigger and bigger, so a creative solution had to be sought. By cropping into sections of the EF logo, which is unique and memorable in its own right, we created dynamic graphic devices that feel akin to the sport. They have a movement and energy that when applied in the correct way, says EF semiotically but are also conscious of cycling and the visual aesthetic that surrounds the culture. We can make these crops bigger and bigger, to the point where they become abstract visuals that assist in communicating a feeling to cycling fans and potential EF customers.
