Wheels in Motion

A year ago we started working with an organic sports supplements brand Motion Nutrition. Back in January of 2018 they were embarking on a new round of funding and wanted to refresh the brand look and feel to make it more lifestyle and inclusive. We encouraged them to go back to the roots of the brand and draw out the authentic story that was their reason for starting the brand in the first place. We worked together on defining this positioning, knowing that once we got this right we’d have a strong springboard in place to evolve the visual identity.

The new brand positioning centred on a fresh tagline ‘Make Your Move’ – an emotive call to (physical) action that reinforced the brand’s purpose, name and mission. From this was born the 3 Laws of Motion (with apologies to Sir Isaac Newton) where we defined the 3 pillars of the brand filtered through a detailed understanding of customer and competition. We got here without too much sweat, the process was clear and the client loved our work, but the big challenge was still to come.

The development of visual identity is inevitably more complex. Where words provide a rationale and emotional context, the picture is left to the reader to create. With the visual, there is nothing left to the imagination. You like it or you don’t. We explored a particular route in detail through multiple iterations over many weeks, it was a route that we felt was strong but finally it became clear that the client wasn’t feeling it and we arrived one day at a deadlock. The stakes were high of course, time and energy has been invested on both sides, production deadlines loom, and of course there is the financial commitment. It was at this point that we collectively decided to ditch the concept entirely and go back to the drawing board. We explored with the client what they were feeling about the process we had been through. There was a tension here and honesty was required on both sides. We went away and came back with some fresh new designs and they instantly seized on one route in particular. As we took this further it became clear we had nailed it, we had the creative solution they were looking for.

I wanted to reflect on this not to big ourselves up for getting there, but really to come back to the point that the creative journey is usually the destination. What we learnt about each other and ourselves during the process of trying, failing and finally succeeding was the whole point. In hindsight of course it is easy to see what was missing with the first iteration that failed but it was only by comparing the two that we could understand what was needed to arrive at a successful conclusion. Often the tension that comes from not succeeding is the place where new ideas are born. It can be uncomfortable to be in that place, but once you accept that this is healthy, that failure is an opportunity and not something to walk away from, it acts as the catalyst for improvement and success.

After the new brand identity was completed, we’ve continued to work with Motion developing their packaging for their full powder and supplements range as well as their planned new products. We’d like to think it’s a more open and collaborative relationship as a consequence of the journey we’ve been on together.