One of the most exciting facets of my business and mission is to help new business owners establish their brand personality through a unique logo. I love using my tools of design – typography, color and form to bring their vision to life through their aesthetics, values and goals.

An example of a project like this came to me recently through a friend and I feel honored to have helped him through this process.

Charlie Crocker got in touch with me several months ago with the idea of creating Sol Rides, an electric bike tour company in the Gorge and a hope to create a way to showcase the many hidden gems of the Gorge and to connect all people to them, regardless of “fitness level”. His enthusiasm, lifetime experience teaching kitesurfing and kayaking, guiding, his love of people and the outdoors made me 100% confident that he would succeed in this new venture.

We got to work and collaborated for a couple of months on developing his brand – he even sketched out many of his ideas which helped clarify them and gave me a solid foundation to start. Totally clear in his thinking, willing to meet to discuss his ideas and collaborate, and open to new ones, Charlie turned out to be an idea client.

I took his sketches and ideas and put my own spin on them, incorporating both. I nuanced the design for a good long time and I think the end result is totally Sol Rides – authentic, passionate, casual, but refined, and fun.

The branding is being used on his website, business card, rack card, van and trailer, t-shirts and other merch.

And, in order to properly refer his business, I obviously had to take a tour to judge for myself and really, it was the most fun I’ve had on two wheels in a long time. I did the “Meander to Mosier” tour and our group met in the heart of Hood River where we learned how to use the bikes. Then, we cruised to Mosier, climbing hills that felt fun and easy. The sites of the Gorge are magnificent in this section as it changes from lush trees to a drier, more desert-like climate. We stopped at Rack ‘n Cloth Cidery for pizza and refreshments and cruised back at sunset, through the Mosier tunnels. You can control the amount of “assist” that you get from the bike, so you can either work hard, not at all, or somewhere in between.

Professional photos above by Ian Bristow

Photos by me from my tour:

Check out his website solrides.com for more information and to book a tour and see for yourself. He also creates custom tours if you, your family or your company are looking for the perfect group event.

To see more branding projects that I’ve done, go to the design portfolio page of my website, or just get in touch.

And, as always, thank you for your business and referrals and happy almost summer!