Category:
Branding & Digital
Client:
Nine Lives
Branding and digital experience for a UK based skateboard and streetwear brand.
THE TASK
I wanted to create a skateboard and streetwear brand that skaters and extreme sports enthusiasts can put their trust in. A brand created by a skater for skaters, supplying skateboards and streetwear apparel to the fearless.
THE BIG IDEA
The Big Idea; Own the fear. Skateboarding is a tough sport and it doesn’t get easier as you get older. Ignoring the fear just won’t work, but owning the fear, gives you your power back.
THE PROCESS
I wanted the brand to be authentic, whilst delivering a high quality finish, so it didn’t feel like a completely DIY approach. So, I broke out my pens and paper and put my brain into gear and carried out some market research.
Once this stage was complete, I moved on to ideation and arrived at the name Nine Lives, as you need nine lives to consider learning to skate, or at least I did because it’s a bit tougher the older you get.
Moving on to the look and feel keywords; gritty, authentic and flexible, closely followed by the big idea, before gathering design inspiration and moving on to the initial sketches.
After a lot of scamping, I landed on the light bulb moment of the cat skull, before moving onto the machine to bring the idea to life.
CHALLENGES / OUTCOMES
I’m proud to say the hard work payed off, I launched Nine Lives and I even made a few sales to boot. That being said running a business is not without it’s challenges and it transpires my business acumen isn’t as good as my design acumen.
Unfortunately, with the rising costs of print on demand and the price of materials, I’ve pressed pause on this project, but perhaps the wheels will turn again in the future.
So, if you’re in the market for a skateboard give me a shout I have couple left in stock!
