When they asked me come up with the branding for their new Crossfit Gym I was very excited. I started brainstorming in my head straight away. I envisioned barbells, biceps, tires… A badass logo fit for the world’s toughest lads.
We had a good chat about their values, their mission, target, uniqueness, goals… And it all led to a solid brand proposition of what their dream hub would be: “Different people coming together for change”.
They were very drawn to the Delta symbol, which symbolises change. They liked the meaning of it but the shape was too pointy and aggressive. “The Box is a welcoming place, and it leaves you feeling good.”
Can we make a triangle less pointy?
We were getting close to it but I still needed to understand a few things better. That’s when yours truly, an uncoordinated artsy computer nerd challenged myself to swap some time in front of the Mac to go sweat a bit.
For full disclosure I have to say I was quite reluctant. I don’t know if I was most scared of the cryptic jargon, the muscle tops or the chalk cloud.
But as we were crafting the design brief together I realised their vision was a lot wider and wilder than that. Lucky for me the stereotypical Crossfit logos with metallic skulls and heavy weights were far from their vision.
We had a good chat about their values, their mission, target, uniqueness, goals… And it all led to a solid brand proposition of what their dream hub would be: “Different people coming together for change”.
They were very drawn to the Delta symbol, which symbolises change. They liked the meaning of it but the shape was too pointy and aggressive. “The Box is a welcoming place, and it leaves you feeling good.”
Can we make a triangle less pointy?
We were getting close to it but I still needed to understand a few things better. That’s when yours truly, an uncoordinated artsy computer nerd challenged myself to swap some time in front of the Mac to go sweat a bit.
For full disclosure I have to say I was quite reluctant. I don’t know if I was most scared of the cryptic jargon, the muscle tops or the chalk cloud.
But wow.
I sweated, got my heart racing, my body aching in the bestest way and felt all the post-workout good feels that get you hooked.
And they were so right about the “for any body”. For someone that has never played any sport in their life I felt even I had a place in the box. Everyone there had different strengths, fitness and ability levels and yet everyone was pushing themselves to the max and encouraging the others. That’s when it became clear that their symbol couldn’t be just one triangle, it had to be a few, of different sizes and colours. They all coming together under one space, the O of Te Ora, which I would draw as a perfect circle and adjust the kerning so it would sit at the centre of the graphic for balance, and be able to be used by itself as their symbol.
I picked a font that I felt was just like them, professional but friendly. Clean lines to express their vision of a more modern Crossfit concept, that it is empowering rather than just strong, bold but not stiff.
When they opened I joined for 6 weeks and I’ve never felt so much change in a little time. Still, my favourite bit is the little community around it. They nailed the atmosphere and their commitment to bring different people together to live better. They even have some classes with créche so I can take the kids with me. My proudest moment was the other day seeing my boys run around jumping boxes and climbing ropes:
“Are you guys playing ninjas?”
“No, we’re pretending to be mums!”
Ha. ︎
>> If you’re lucky enough to live around Kerikeri I so recommend you give it a go. They have an Open gym every Saturday 8AM at 20 Mill Ln! Come check it out!
I sweated, got my heart racing, my body aching in the bestest way and felt all the post-workout good feels that get you hooked.
And they were so right about the “for any body”. For someone that has never played any sport in their life I felt even I had a place in the box. Everyone there had different strengths, fitness and ability levels and yet everyone was pushing themselves to the max and encouraging the others. That’s when it became clear that their symbol couldn’t be just one triangle, it had to be a few, of different sizes and colours. They all coming together under one space, the O of Te Ora, which I would draw as a perfect circle and adjust the kerning so it would sit at the centre of the graphic for balance, and be able to be used by itself as their symbol.
I picked a font that I felt was just like them, professional but friendly. Clean lines to express their vision of a more modern Crossfit concept, that it is empowering rather than just strong, bold but not stiff.
When they opened I joined for 6 weeks and I’ve never felt so much change in a little time. Still, my favourite bit is the little community around it. They nailed the atmosphere and their commitment to bring different people together to live better. They even have some classes with créche so I can take the kids with me. My proudest moment was the other day seeing my boys run around jumping boxes and climbing ropes:
“Are you guys playing ninjas?”
“No, we’re pretending to be mums!”
Ha. ︎
>> If you’re lucky enough to live around Kerikeri I so recommend you give it a go. They have an Open gym every Saturday 8AM at 20 Mill Ln! Come check it out!
BRANDS
I worked with and for include