Case Study
Creating a logo and brand foundation for Peak Performance
Client: Peak Performance
Role: Direction & Design
Deliverables: Logo design & activations
Case Study
Creating a logo and brand foundation for Peak Performance
Client: Peak Performance
Role: Direction & Design
Deliverables: Logo design & activations
The challenge
Create a bold snowboard brand that feels powerful, versatile, and authentic in a competitive outdoor and snow-sports market.
The goal was to build a bold and memorable brand for a new snowboard and snowboard-apparel company. The creative direction needed to feel powerful, versatile, and immediately reflective of the snowboarding environment through both imagery and colour selection.
The overarching challenge was to craft a brand that could confidently stand within the competitive outdoor and snow-sports space. The brand needed to be simple yet strong, using symbolism and design clarity to differentiate it from other lifestyle and equipment brands. It also needed to feel authentic to the culture of snowboarding while remaining flexible enough to extend across apparel, boards, and marketing materials.
The challenge
Create a bold snowboard brand that feels powerful, versatile, and authentic in a competitive outdoor and snow-sports market.
The goal was to build a bold and memorable brand for a new snowboard and snowboard-apparel company. The creative direction needed to feel powerful, versatile, and immediately reflective of the snowboarding environment through both imagery and colour selection.
The overarching challenge was to craft a brand that could confidently stand within the competitive outdoor and snow-sports space. The brand needed to be simple yet strong, using symbolism and design clarity to differentiate it from other lifestyle and equipment brands. It also needed to feel authentic to the culture of snowboarding while remaining flexible enough to extend across apparel, boards, and marketing materials.
Discover & Define
Research snowboarding culture, trends, and visuals. Name “Peak” chosen for clarity, symbolism, and connection to mountains and lifestyle.
To establish a strong foundation for the brand, I began with a focused discovery phase rooted in snowboarding culture, the industry landscape, and lifestyle brand conventions. This included examining category trends, identifying common visual motifs, and clarifying opportunities to create something distinct. Because I am familiar with the sport, the research targeted the elements that mattered most for this brand: environmental cues, the sense of movement and energy, and imagery that resonates with snowboarders.
Early naming exploration focused on concepts tied to mountains, peaks, carving, and elevation, all central to both the sport and the culture surrounding it. Through this process, the name Peak emerged as the strongest option. It conveyed conceptual clarity and offered the potential for typographic symbolism. The name itself could carry the identity of the brand while evoking the mountain environment at the heart of snowboarding.
Discover & Define
Research snowboarding culture, trends, and visuals. Name “Peak” chosen for clarity, symbolism, and connection to mountains and lifestyle.
To establish a strong foundation for the brand, I began with a focused discovery phase rooted in snowboarding culture, the industry landscape, and lifestyle brand conventions. This included examining category trends, identifying common visual motifs, and clarifying opportunities to create something distinct. Because I am familiar with the sport, the research targeted the elements that mattered most for this brand: environmental cues, the sense of movement and energy, and imagery that resonates with snowboarders.
Early naming exploration focused on concepts tied to mountains, peaks, carving, and elevation, all central to both the sport and the culture surrounding it. Through this process, the name Peak emerged as the strongest option. It conveyed conceptual clarity and offered the potential for typographic symbolism. The name itself could carry the identity of the brand while evoking the mountain environment at the heart of snowboarding.
Concept & Direction
Rapid sketches explored typography and mountain imagery. Refined logo integrates peaks, momentum, and authentic snowboarding energy.
With the name established, I moved into rapid concept sketching to explore how typography could integrate both the word and the visual idea of a mountain. All initial sketches were created in black and white to focus on form, composition, and concept before applying colour. The sketches explored multiple directions including:
An S shaped like carved lines in fresh powder
An M forming two mountain peaks
The A in Peak as a stylized mountain summit
From these explorations, one concept emerged as the most natural, balanced, and conceptually strong. I refined the selected sketch in Adobe Illustrator, shaping the letterforms and the mountain-peak A to feel integrated and intentional rather than forced. Italicized type added a sense of momentum and forward movement, mirroring the dynamics and energy of snowboarding.
I also began sourcing photography and supporting imagery to create a cohesive visual language for the brand. This phase was crucial in establishing a consistent style across all brand applications.
Concept & Direction
Rapid sketches explored typography and mountain imagery. Refined logo integrates peaks, momentum, and authentic snowboarding energy.
With the name established, I moved into rapid concept sketching to explore how typography could integrate both the word and the visual idea of a mountain. All initial sketches were created in black and white to focus on form, composition, and concept before applying colour. The sketches explored multiple directions including:
An S shaped like carved lines in fresh powder
An M forming two mountain peaks
The A in Peak as a stylized mountain summit
From these explorations, one concept emerged as the most natural, balanced, and conceptually strong. I refined the selected sketch in Adobe Illustrator, shaping the letterforms and the mountain-peak A to feel integrated and intentional rather than forced. Italicized type added a sense of momentum and forward movement, mirroring the dynamics and energy of snowboarding.
I also began sourcing photography and supporting imagery to create a cohesive visual language for the brand. This phase was crucial in establishing a consistent style across all brand applications.
Design & Develop
Final identity applied to boards, apparel, storefront and promos. Colours, tagline, and visuals reflect mountains, movement, and alpine conditions.
With the logo refined, I expanded the brand system into supporting assets and applications. This included mockups of apparel, snowboards, and promotional materials created using a combination of licensed templates and custom Photoshop work. These mockups allowed the client to see the brand in context and understand how the logo and visual elements would perform across real-world touchpoints.
Colour selection was informed by the natural environments where the products would exist. The palette combined white and a deep bluish green, reflecting snow, alpine trees, slate-wet rocks, and the cool tones of winter air. This ensured the brand felt grounded in its environment while remaining visually striking.
To further define the brand’s voice, I developed the tagline Mountain Material. The tagline works on multiple levels: it positions snowboarders and mountain-driven individuals as “mountain material,” highlights clothing and gear built for mountain environments, and emphasizes products made from materials designed to withstand alpine conditions.
The final identity system delivers a clean, powerful, and highly adaptable brand. The wordmark sits at the core of the design, symbolizing both the name and the environment it represents. The result is a brand that feels strong, authentic, and ready to make an impact in the competitive world of snowboarding.
Design & Develop
Final identity applied to boards, apparel, storefront and promos. Colours, tagline, and visuals reflect mountains, movement, and alpine conditions.
With the logo refined, I expanded the brand system into supporting assets and applications. This included mockups of apparel, snowboards, and promotional materials created using a combination of licensed templates and custom Photoshop work. These mockups allowed the client to see the brand in context and understand how the logo and visual elements would perform across real-world touchpoints.
Colour selection was informed by the natural environments where the products would exist. The palette combined white and a deep bluish green, reflecting snow, alpine trees, slate-wet rocks, and the cool tones of winter air. This ensured the brand felt grounded in its environment while remaining visually striking.
To further define the brand’s voice, I developed the tagline Mountain Material. The tagline works on multiple levels: it positions snowboarders and mountain-driven individuals as “mountain material,” highlights clothing and gear built for mountain environments, and emphasizes products made from materials designed to withstand alpine conditions.
The final identity system delivers a clean, powerful, and highly adaptable brand. The wordmark sits at the core of the design, symbolizing both the name and the environment it represents. The result is a brand that feels strong, authentic, and ready to make an impact in the competitive world of snowboarding.
