Rocks and Road is a cycling and coaching business, founded by national championship cyclist, Andrew Sudworth.
Ian at Logo Geek was approached to design a simple, identifiable mark for the business that would stand out from the competition, but also provide scope for the brand to become a recognised franchise.
Rocks and Road provide mountain and road bike cycling coaching and guiding. The business was founded by Andrew Sudworth, a passionate cyclist, and experienced instructor and coach who has achieved national championship level in cycling, and is a true expert in his field.
Unlike most cycling schools and coaches, through Rocks and Road offer the unique service of guided bike rides and one-to-one coaching using a combination of both off-road mountain biking, and road biking. Students are taught in the Surrey Hills, an area of outstanding natural beauty, with access to some of the best cycling track in the South East of England.
During early stages of the business, Ian Paget was invited to design a simple but identifiable mark for Rocks and Road that would allow the company to stand out from the competition. Long term the company has plans to become a franchise, which needed to be factored into the design phase.
It was important that the logo was designed to attract riders of any level, and not to alienate cyclists of a lower ability. It was also important that the design appeals equally to both men and women who want to keep fit, who want to get the most out of their cycling equipment, and want to achieve their personal goals.
Various routes were explored during the design phase, however, the strongest direction came when working to create a monogram from the letter R that looked like a cyclist riding a mountain bike.
To push the idea further, and to add additional meaning to the brand mark, Ian explored various ways to combine a double R (for Rocks and Road) into the symbol. The final results from that development work have been presented here as part of the final logo design.
To compliment the icon Ian used a bold, modern sans-serif typeface that has both a gender-neutral feel to it, and remains approachable for riders of any level. Whilst being simple and looking professional, the characteristics of the typeface also allow the company to feel honest, fun and enjoyable.
Looking at the direct competition the general colour palettes used were greens and blues. For that reason, to stand out from the crowd, orange was introduced, which will both be highly visible whilst cycling (for the safety reasons) and has an energetic and fun feel to symbolise the passion and love of cycling introduced by the founder.
The final result is a stylised, sporty logo design that’s simple, yet fun, modern and energetic that will work well for Andrew as a sole trader, as well as a franchise for when the the business is ready to expand and grow.
This is a logo that people will be happy to wear with pride, and will want to be associated with it - attributes of a logo that every successful brand strives to own as part of their brand identity.
To see more examples of logo design work by Ian Paget take a look at his logo design portfolio, or use the contact form if you are interested in a logo being designed for you and your business.