Padrone

Cyan / Roma

Martello

Dorato

Turismo

Cipressa

Ispra

Bacio

Arona

Photos: © Forrest Arakawa

Part I: May-June

May and June were very busy. Mostly dedicated to a total rebranding of Team Columbia Highroad to Team Columbia-HTC, along wrapping up the new 2010 Spring/Summer collection for Capo.

New Sponsor = very busy designer

Funny thing about sponsorship… in my experience, it doesn’t seem to make a difference whether or not you’re a local club or one of the best teams in the world, sponsorship always seems to come down to the 11th hour. Not sure why, but I’ve always seen it work out this way – for my own team as well as for others. This poses a huge challenge for the designer, since sponsorship in large part is what you see in person, on TV, etc. The image of a team is an essential component to making this all work.

With Columbia-HTC we had about 3 weeks to nail everything. It’s not like there was any time to test anything out, the rebrand had to be ready for the biggest race in the world: the Tour de France. No pressure.

We started with what we knew worked and tossed out everything else. The previous Columbia-Highroad design had quite a reception: both good and bad, but all of it was attention for the team. It made a big impact – people were talking about it – and that was our goal. So, we took that design and evolved it into something that would compliment the new sponsor – HTC. Being a mobile phone company and having a very tech savvy brand, we needed to take something that was more edgy and raw and refine it, streamline it, sand the corners off and give it a more modern and integrated feel.

In the end, a lot of the same general concepts were still there, they were just executed in a way that would compliment both the existing partners, as well as the new one. This idea carried through the new clothing, vehicles, and marketing materials.

Take a look at some of the cycling news and photo websites for some great shots of the new kit:

http://www.tdwsport.com

http://www.grahamwatson.com

http://www.cyclingnews.com

http://www.velonews.com

Thinking about 2010 in 2009

One of the challenges of working with a company that produces a collection each season is trying to stay ahead of the curve of what people like and create something new and different from the previous (or current) collection. With Capo, they’re always trying to push forward and do something different with design. They’re always looking for new technology they can incorporate as well as new trends in fashion/design that they might be able to incorporate into their collection.

For 2010, Capo has a lot of new technology, new cuts and new fabric. We wanted to be able to showcase that in the design, as well as continue to push the envelope with the design to keep that trademark Capo flair. With seven kits in the line up, there’s something for everyone and we’re hoping for another great reception from the public when these hit the shops in the late winter/early spring.

Check out Capo’s website for more info:

http://www.uplandsg.com