10,000 Reasons
It’s that time again to start gearing up for one of our favorite projects and events, Pedal the Cause.
Last year, we had the privilege of working with a team riding in the event. Two cancer surviving sisters decided to put a team together and they came to us for help with a team logo and jersey.
About the Event
Every year, thousands of people gather together to ride in support of those fighting cancer, the survivors, and their families. What is so great about Pedal the Cause is that 100% of the proceeds go towards cancer research at Siteman Cancer Centers in St. Louis.
How We Helped
The sisters had chosen the team name, 10,000 Reasons, a name that is particularly special to them because, after all that they have been through, they still have so many reasons to be thankful. We couldn’t agree more – this is the perfect name.
“Everyone has reasons why they do things. What are the reasons you might ride? Maybe you believe there are 10,000 people too many with cancer, maybe you would like to help raise $10,000 for cancer research, maybe you have 10,000 reasons to celebrate someone being cancer-free. For us it’s because we have 10,000 Reasons to be thankful.”
The Logo
Our task was to come up with a logo to represent their team. The only requests given to us were to include a bike element (obviously) and to incorporate the colors that represented the cancers they fought, navy and green, as well as the color purple – the color representing all cancers, which is ultimately what the event is supporting. No problem.
We knew the team name needed to be the core focus of the logo, so it had to be easy to read and stand out from the other elements in the logo design. We played with incorporating a biking element into each logo — handle bars, a bike chain, tires, etc. while keeping the team name the main focus.
After creating several options, we narrowed it down to five we felt were viable options for our client and they selected a winner!
To incorporate the simple bike illustration, we created our own numbers to make perfect circles for the tires. We selected a clean, solid font for ‘Reasons’ giving the logo a modern aesthetic that was easy to read no matter the size. We then added a secondary subtle detail by making the negative space in the ‘O’ a heart shape. This not only symbolized the 10,000 reasons to be thankful, but also represented the sister’s father who passed from cancer in 2003. This was a seemingly small detail that carried a lot of meaning.
The Jersey
We now had the logo and color palette established and were ready to start cruisin’! We set out to design the team’s jersey. This was our first bike jersey design project so it was super exciting for us.
Logo placement is important when designing a bike jersey because you want everyone to know what team you are on whether they are seeing you from the front or the back. We felt the logo would stand out the most on a white background, but wanted a majority of the jersey to be color – that’s what makes it fun! The vibrant lime green was going to be the most impactful, so we chose to make it the bottom half of the jersey. Although it was a team started by two sisters, we didn’t want the jersey to be too feminine since there would be a good amount of men wearing them as well, so we limited the use of purple.
Drawing from the circular shapes used in the team logo, we incorporated a circle pattern on the sleeves to add texture and visual interest. Of course we also needed to promote the event, so we placed the Pedal the Cause logos on the sleeves and sides. When looking at the team jerseys from the past years this was the most common placement. It was also important to incorporate all the sponsor logos. The hardest part was to not compromise the design with all of the additional logos that needed to be included.
What we didn’t know is that each team jersey is entered into a contest. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out we the jersey made the Top 5. We’ll be redesigning the team’s jersey again this year and now it’s ON. We’re going for the gold!
Why We Do It
Everyone is affected by cancer in some sort of way. Whether it is a family member, a friend, a coworker or even yourself. It’s a tough thing to go through and if there is any way we can help towards finding a cure – we’re in. What a great way to get your name out there while supporting a wonderful cause.
