When professional bass angler Kirkland Desmond came to us several months ago to ask for our help with creating his new brand identity we were excited to say the least. What could be more creative than adding a little flair to the sport of professional bass fishing EV2 style?
Kirkland isn’t your average angler. He’s a little wild, a little edgy and quite the hip guy on the scene.
When he contacted us he said he wanted some of our “wild style” incorporated into his new look. Kirkland wanted to stand out from the other anglers and make a statement. The request was for something a little grunge oriented with bold colors. We began brainstorming and the following materials are the result of our efforts to develop a wild, aggressive brand identity for the “new kid on the scene” and get him noticed.
We started by exploring ideas for the development of his actual logo. Just because he is an angler we didn’t want the typical fishing related icons that most others in the sport use. We opted for a hook specific to his fishing style that actually wraps around his name surrounding it. The sharp hook symbolizes an aggressive angler that contains the name and makes it one entire piece. We decided to keep it a bit broken and grungy with a tattered style font that looks slightly broken apart with rough edges and a little spatter. The hook itself is clean, not rusty or worn while the name itself is very rough. This symbolizes that there is a level of perfection or pristine beauty within this “bad ass” angler who is out to get noticed.
The color palette is simple with a bold water like blue, black and some grey used to represent the hook itself. The blue makes an impact while making you comfortable and not being to over the top.
Once we developed the brand identity for Kirkland we moved on to some other print related materials for him including his business cards and thank you cards as requested. Check out some of those concepts below. As you can see we kept the format and overall brand identity consistent with the use
the same fonts colors, etc. Kirkland wanted the same style of grunge to be applied to the cards and other materials we developed. Take a look at how we conveyed that to these pieces below. We opted to go with the logo and text at an angle to add a little diversity and make his materials stand out from the others with standard alignment.
Of course being a professional angler you simply have to wear a flashy jersey that makes you stand out. We incorporated the colors and general theme into Kirklands 2014 fishing jersey as well. With this project we kept all branding consistent and added in his sponsors logos as requested. As shown you can see the consistency and level of detail we applied while still utilizing the color scheme and paint spatter we developed. We wanted his jersey to pop and get noticed and adhere to his brand identity. The jersey included both the front and back as well as the sleeves, collar and cuffs. All of these items will be printed using dye sublimation and pieced together to create the final product. Here’s what we came up with.
The next project sent to us was a new one for us. Kirkland decided he was going to use a mask, similar to one used in dirt bike riding or paintball to shield his face from the harsh winds experienced while racing down the open water to a fishing spot. What better way to stand out than to don a mask that matches your overall brand? We were up to the task. We worked with one of team members experienced in vinyl application and wrapping to assist us in developing a two dimensional template of the mask to apply the graphics to. The graphics, once designed on the template were printed in 3M heavy duty vinyl and applied to the mask. Instead of airbrushing a design on the mask we chose to use vinyl which will allow Kirkland to remove it at any time if sponsors change and simply reprint and re-apply. Take a look at how amazing the final product turned out and how well it fits with the overall brand identity we have created.
