Ground Effect Logo Reboot

As with most start ups, at Ground Effect’s inception back in 1994 a lot of energy and anguish was invested in developing a logo that we hoped would convey important messages about our new brand.

We settled on a textural hand written logo type as a literal connection between ‘Ground’ and the dirt we ride on, as well as an eco-conscious undertone - the Ground ‘Effect’. A stylised rider swooped, unweighted, over a rise to capture the freedom and exhilaration of cycling. Our first catalogue was printed on recycled, slightly oatmeal coloured stock. Silky woven labels were lovingly stitched onto each garment.

Over the past 25 years the Ground Effect logo has evolved through several iterations with refined, sharper typefaces, plus a variety of stretched, stacked oblong, mirrored and circular formats.

A simmering desire for a more significant reboot came to a head during lock down. Liam wrestled with the challenge and churned out a torrent of concepts before all eventually led to this latest incarnation of the Ground Effect logo.

The obvious difference is the device - the arcing rider replaced with the symbolic flats, rolling hills and mountains - along with the orange dot representing the rider-bike-wheel. We liked the breadth of terrain and implied variety of bicycle mode, plus the connection with adventures in the backcountry. The typeface retains round wheel-like forms with the individual letters nudging and nestling against one another.

Pedal on.