Jessica Marie Ingold
A concept rebranding of a local bike repair shop in Mayfield, Newcastle.
Brief
The Re-brand of AJ's Bikes & Bits was a concept project regarding a Local Bicycle Repair Shop in Mayfield, NSW, Australia. My classmates and I had the chance to work on a real project that required us to follow client stipulations and create a Re-Branding of the store. The Branding Design that the manager preferred would continue to be rolled out in reality.
The main requirements of this brief were to include a New Logo and Business Cards Design, Window Stickers, and a Portable Advertisement Board. We were given full creative control of our designs, however one client stipulation was that the two main Bicycle Brands (Norco and Merida) that the store specialises in were to be applied to a Window Sticker, the Business Cards and the Portable Advertisement Board.
​
The main purpose for this Re-Branding was to:
-
Teach skills in creating designs for clients
-
Gain experience in a real world project
-
To further advance my skills regarding Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.
Role
Project Manager, Designer.
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop.
Ideate
The Re-brand of AJ's Bikes & Bits was a concept project regarding a Local Bicycle Repair Shop in Mayfield, NSW, Australia. My classmates and I had the chance to work on a real project that required us to follow client stipulations and create a Re-Branding of the store. The Branding Design that the manager preferred would continue to be rolled out in reality.
The main requirements of this brief were to include a New Logo and Business Cards Design, Window Stickers, and a Portable Advertisement Board. We were given full creative control of our designs, however one client stipulation was that the two main Bicycle Brands (Norco and Merida) that the store specialises in were to be applied to a Window Sticker, the Business Cards and the Portable Advertisement Board.
​​
Design Process
Typography
I began this project by researching vintage logo designs that combined both symbols and typography. This inspiration helped me to decide on a sleek and simple logo that had an industrial feel to fit in with the bicycle repair concept.
Supria Sans Black
After experimenting with various font choices, I chose the Supria Sans Font Family as it had the industrial aesthetic and had a sleek structure.
Supria Sans Black is used for the business identity (Bike & Bits) so as to attract the eye of the audience. The thick weight of this font provides a sturdy title.​
Supria Sans Bold
Once the title font was chosen, I selected the Supria Sans Bold as the subtitle. This combination of typography creates hierarchy within the logo and the brand.
​
Supria Sans Regular
To create contrast in official documentation and social media, I also selected the Regular version of Supria Sans.
Logo Design
Symbol
In order to represent AJ's Bikes & Bits Brand, I researched bicycle tire tread and specialised repair tools for inspiration for a Symbol.
After experimenting with various iterations, I decided on a simple tire tread, and the specialised Spanner and Screwdriver used in Bicycle repair.
​
Wordmark
Once I finalised the symbol, I experimented with the chosen typography of Supria Sans Black and Supria Sans Bold. After making both fonts outlines in Illustrator, I removed the lower-case letter 'i' from both Bikes and Bits to make room for the Spanner and Screwdriver icons I created. This provided additional context for the logo especially when combined with the tire tread.
Brand Colours
After I chose the Typography and finalised the logo, I experimented with a colour scheme.
I wanted to use a subdued colour scheme to fit in with the industrial aesthetic. Taking inspiration from the surrounding area of Newcastle, particularly from the scenic bicycle lane that winds past Newcastle Beach, I created a colour scheme that represents the ocean. White for Sea Foam and Dark Teal for Seaweed.
​
The colours scheme are used throughout the brand.
#057f8c
#ffffff
Reflection
In this concept, the main logo shape resembles an identifiable part or ‘Bit’ of a bicycle; the wheel. This refers to AJ’s Bikes & Bits brand name and relation to bicycles in a subtle way.
​
To also reference AJ’s Bikes & Bits repair services in the logo, the ‘i’ in both ‘Bikes’ and ‘Bits’ have been replaced with a wrench and screwdriver. These images replace the need for words for a more clean design.
​
The Blue and White colour scheme chosen is modern and friendly to appeal to all age groups and is a nod to Newcastle’s coastal identity. Blue is considered to represent trust, confidence and nature (particularly the sky or sea) and it was for these psychological meanings that blue was chosen, not only as a tribute to AJ’s Bikes & Bits trustworthy reputation but also to the company philosophy of reusing and repairing cherished bikes.
