06/03/2025
Mountain biking was invented just north of San Francisco in Marin County on the slopes of Mt. Tam. One of the first mountain bike brands was Ibis Cycles founded by Scot Nicols. We worked closely with the team to update their logo and visual identity to bring the brand into the next generation, while maintaining its connection to the past. The brand was named for the Ibis bird, who muchlike the bikes themselves are beautiful and elegant in flight. The new icon strikes a balance between conveying speed and precision and the grace of the Ibis, better capturing the dynamic forward motion of a bird in flight.
Not only does typography play an integral role in the logo, but also in all the designations and markings on the bike itself. The system began with a set of rules for creating distinct lockups for all current (and future) models and extended that system to work across all digital and print materials as well.
Frame shape and styles vary greatly between models, so we worked with the Ibis team to determine the variety of needs when it came to graphics on the bike. The flexibility of the elements allows for every model to maximize graphic opportunities in a way that is complementary to the overall aesthetic of each bike.
The typographic system developed for the bicycles themselves extends to digital and print materials. Scale and contrast of typography helps to deliver complex technical information is a way that is more digestible.
These rules were captured in an extensive style guide designed to be implemented by the hands-on team at Ibis in Santa Cruz.
