Five Rings
A rebrand project for a coffee company founded by Olympic champions.
Olympic athletes can't indulge in much during training and often live like monks. This lead Owain, Callum and Phil (4 gold medals between them!) to discover a passion for indulging in coffee. Their passion ended up becoming a successful side hustle brewing and manufacturing their own blends.
The old logo had a variety of negative points:
- It did not scale well and was not legible at smaller sizes, particularly on mobile devices or as an icon on social media
- The logo was made up of 2 concepts that were competing against each other for attention: the bespoke number five (sidenote the previous designer ruffled a few feathers read here.) and various lines that loosely linked to a velodrome.
- The 'rings copy' type was far too small even on the biggest items of collateral.
During my initial research, the Five Rings founder's mentioned they were looking to evolve the brand and move into new territories in the future such as events and clothing. I advised them to remove the word 'coffee' from their official brand name. This would allow the brand the flexibility to evolve in whichever direction they wish.
Logo Rationale
All founders have a passion for great coffee. Secondly, they are united by being a part of a very select few people in the world who know what it takes to win an Olympic gold medal. The logo contains 5 rings without the design becoming too complex or intricate.
The abstract mix of circles subtly represents many factors such as: bicycle wheels, a chainset, Olympic rings, a gold medal and the planet (emphasising their stance on sustainability). The circles are connected together in an abstract manner as a nod to the Olympics without infringing on their trademark.
