Andrew Cotton Brand Development

Logo + website

Riding Moving Mountains

Professional Athletes the world over aspire to push themselves to their absolute limit. It’s inspirational what mere humans can achieve with determination, training and focus. With the prominence of video via digital platforms such as Youtube and Facebook it seems that we are daily witnesses to someone setting a new level or smashing conceptions of what we deemed possible.

Recently at Logo+ we have had the opportunity to work with one of these pioneers, the UK’s most renowned big wave surfer Andrew Cotton. There are only a handful of people in the World who have staked claims to having surfed the biggest wave ever. It is an ongoing challenge in which these athletes continuously try to surpass the previous record. The progression of Surf Science study and developments of technology has made predicting when and where these massive swells will erupt that little bit easier.

It’s not all been successful for Andrew. Following a particularly heavy Nazaré wave in November 2017 Andrew claimed the World Surf League title for Wipeout of the Year 2018 as well as a broken vertebrae in the process. As he himself put it ‘I zigged when I should have zagged’. However, his resilience, focus and sheer determination has seen a hard but speedy recovery, quicker than most Andrew is getting back in the water.

The planning, travel, finance and other resources needed to keep Andrew raising the bar and at the peak level he is accustomed to are considerable. He is already a brand ambassador for a number of global brands including Redbull & Casio. He is also well groomed and seasoned public speaker, partaking in Ted talks and providing team motivational seminars. These go a long way to supporting Andrew’s progress, however naturally further investment would achieve more. This is where Logo+ came in.

Prior to working with us, Andrew Cotton’s digital presence did not efficiently reflect the brand that he is. There was no real recognisable elements and nothing that reflected his characteristics as a professional athlete engaged in something exciting, inspiring and ultimately very visually interesting.

Using our broad spectrum skill mix to carry out various rounds of discussion, research, scoping and brand auditing it was decided that having a simple element that could be carried across other front facing assets was the correct approach. This was introduced into the brand logo brief and ‘conversation starting’ concepts were produced for feedback and discussion.

Despite a number of approaches, there was a standout direction that was pursued.

The Andrew Cotton team were already proactive with their social media following and continue to share great content within their community but this needed to be reflected within the website. Logo+ mapped out a simple user experience with the reviewed and refined content. Then it was all about designing the aesthetic, using strong imagery to support the already intriguing story behind Andrew Cotton and his drive to continually raise the bar.

Projects of this nature get the Logo+ team very excited. It provides us with a chance to truly action what we are very good at. We are proud to continue our working partnership with the Andrew Cotton team with exciting opportunities ever present. Watch this space…