This project involved the creation of the official event logo for Sea to Sound 2026, the signature three day adaptive cycling ride hosted by Ian’s Ride. As a Washington-based nonprofit, Ian’s Ride is dedicated to expanding outdoor recreation opportunities for individuals with mobility impairments. Now in its eighth year, this 74 mile journey across Washington’s diverse terrain has grown into a highly anticipated event for over 150 participants within the disability and adaptive sports community.
The first step in the design process involved creating a project design brief with the client. Our’s looked like this:
The Challenge
The primary goal was to design a versatile mark that captures the spirit of outdoor adventure, community, and accessibility. The logo needed to celebrate adaptive athletes while remaining functional across diverse mediums, including:
- Apparel and Merchandise: T-shirts, water bottles, and bags.
- Event Assets: Race medals and stickers.
- Digital Presence: Website and social media platforms.
Creative Direction
To represent the journey from “Sea” to “Sound,” the design needed to represent movement and connection. Key visual elements include natural landscapes and trail motifs that reflect the Pacific Northwest. A central focus of the brief was to incorporate a symbolic reference to adaptive mobility, ensuring the disability community felt authentically represented. This prompted the creation of the first three grayscale concepts.
The client liked the application of the banner in concept one, the silhouettes and tree shapes in concept two, and the landscape format from concept three. Some more feedback included using a unique shape for the logo, adding/modifying some of the silhouette characters, creating “rolling” mountain tops instead of a single peak, and implementing a subtle symbol of peace. The client also seemed to prefer more of an illustration aspect to the logo. It was important to add detail that the client requested while also keeping it scalable, recognizable, and on theme.
The Final Design
The finalized logo evolved from initial concepts to fully realize the project goals. Key refinements were made to ensure the brand resonated with the local community while meeting all technical requirements.
- Structured Composition: The banner was transformed into an integrated footer within a Washington State outline, providing a clean area for the “Sea to Sound” text and “2026” date.
- Regional Identity: The sharp peak from initial concepts was replaced with rolling silhouettes of the Olympic Mountain Range to accurately reflect the Washington landscape.
- The Journey: The design incorporates a trail line within the Olympic Peninsula portion of the state outline to represent the specific 74 mile path athletes travel, called the Olympic Discovery Trail.
- Enhanced Inclusion: Two additional silhouettes—a runner and a traditional cyclist—were added to emphasize that the event is inclusive to both disabled and non-disabled participants.
- Subtle Peace: The subtle nod to peace was achieved using the silhouette characters. I illustrated the cyclist giving the “peace sign” to create a dynamic feeling with the design, demonstrating the feelings of camaraderie and harmony.
- Brand Continuity: The power chair user was replaced with the original Ian’s Ride character to strengthen recognition and connection to the nonprofit.
Style Tile
