Ibis Cycles Rebrand - Strohl Inc | A San Francisco Brand & Graphic Design Studio

AN ICON IN MOUNTAIN BIKING FOR OVER 40 YEARS

Ibis Bicycles was founded by Scot Nicol, one of the earliest mountain bikers in northern California. It began in Nicol’s garage in 1981 when a friend asked him to build a frame. Since then their fiercely independent and irreverent spirit has become infamous in the sport.

Our goal was to help bring the Ibis brand into its next era of innovation, while staying true to the heart and soul of the riders behind the scenes.

AN UPDATED ICON FOR A NEW GENERATION OF ENTHUSIASTS

The brand was named for the Ibis bird, who much like 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. The streamlined and simplified forms better capture the dynamic forward motion of a bird in flight.

FLEXIBILITY IS EVERYTHING

Branding applied to the bike itself is both a challenge and a great opportunity. As with so many action photos taken from below, Ibis’ previous oval logo was unable to maximize the space on the downtime.

In the initial research it was noted that most bike companies stretch their logos as wide as possible to fill the space. We decided to take a different approach, making the four-letter logo as condensed and bold as possible. This density allowed it to stand out from the pack, as well as allowing for the unique versatility of stacking the letterforms to fit extremely narrow spaces.

CREATING AN OWNABLE TYPOGRAPHIC SYSTEM

Not only does typography play an integral role for the logo, but additionally for all the designations and markings on the bike itself. The system began with creating distinct lockups for all current (and future) models, but extended into a system to work across all digital and print materials. These rules were captured in an extensive style guide designed to be implemented by the hands-on team at Ibis in Santa Cruz.

A VERSATILE GRAPHIC SYSTEM FOR THE FUTURE

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 brand elements allows for every model to maximize graphic and branding opportunities in a way that is complementary to the overall aesthetic of each bike.