Everything but the bike

Polaris Bikewear

When the new sport of mountain biking came on the scene, so did Polaris Bikewear. In those days it was a bobbled wooly jumper and a pair of old shoes. Since then they’ve come a long way. Still based in the Peak District but now a major designer and manufacturer of everything you need for a ride, whether that’s mountain biking, road biking or commuting.

What I did

Branding / Brand Guidelines / Product Branding / Art Direction / Advertising / Positioning / Packaging / Copywriting / Website / Exhibitions / POS

polaris-logos_04

Without wanting to completely redesign their brand I evolved their existing logo to give it more clarity and with a clear set of rules to ensure maximum visibility on product and packaging. As part of the research I identified Sharp sans as the perfect font family. Because of the range of ligatures and special characters, it enabled us to create multiple sub-brands for the different ranges and markets. All before the font was even released.

polaris bikewear branding design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear branding design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
Polaris Bikewear brand guidelines

I created an advertising campaign that ran in the main cycling publications around the proposition 'Just Add your Bike' – as Polaris design and manufacture everything but the bike. We put the word out for real cyclists to feature in the campaign in return for some free cycling gear.

polaris bikewear advertising design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear advertising design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear advertising design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear advertising design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear advertising design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd

As the leading designer and manufacturer of bike flight cases it was important to capitalise on this and create a strong standalone brand. 

polaris bikewear bikepod by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear bikepod by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear bikepod swing ticket design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear bikepod swing ticket design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear bikepod swing ticket design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd

I designed a new ecommerce website that was easy to navigate and allowed users to filter easily to the correct product choice. 

polaris bikewear website design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear website design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd

For their hi-vis commuter range I created a logo designed to work on product in a reflective environment. We gained shelf space in new key retailers.

rbs logo design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear packaging design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear rbs branding design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
polaris bikewear rbs branding design by Leeds based Freelance Designer Neil Holroyd
Collaborators: Web development: Les Aubrey  Photography: Chris Davies, Adrian Ray
© 2021 Neil Holroyd