overview
Barreled had the land, the water rights and the technology, but needed investors, and lots of them.
But they had no brand.
The vision.
After years of travelling the world and catching a few waves on the way, Joey Lawrence (click for his linkedin) was struck with a vision to bring the exhilaration of surfing to those living far from the coast. Inspired by the innovative wave-making technology he had witnessed during his global adventures, Joey envisioned the creation of an inland surf park that could replicate the awe-inspiring surf conditions found in nature. With a deep passion for surfing and a desire to share the joy of riding the waves with people everywhere, Joey combined his love for the sport with cutting-edge technology to make his vision a reality. The result is going to be an inland surf park resort that brings the excitement and thrill of surfing to landlocked communities.
Grip it and rip it.
Joey approached me with his idea, some research, a name and a logo he had some dude make on Fiverr. It was crazy. It was exciting! The agreement was to build his logo and website. The partnership turned into much more as the process of became as much about increasing physical marketing and visibility items as digital branding.
I was inspired by the old surf shops that could be found along coast lines back in the day: scrapped together with drift wood hand painted. I pulled saturated colors from surf sunsets and lagoon water. Joey mentioned that “I want it to feel like a surf shop, but I also want it to fit into the Yakima community”. I decided to lean into the barrel, as Yakima is a known wine AVA. What would it look like to burn the wordmark into a barrel?
the politics of surfing.
In addition to the difficulty of raising 10s of millions of dollars to build the project, Eastern Washington has a ton of politics surrounding land use, water usage, businesses that may cause traffic and a traditional conservative bend that is resistant to change. Joey found that he needed help with non-traditional marketing materials in addition to the standard business cabinet.
Flyers getting the word out. Buttons for supporters to wear at public hearings social media campaigns, and a chant-able slogan, “Surf Yakima".
The website.
The final piece of the puzzle was to build a website to show off the brand, the plans and possibility of investment to the public.
I worked with Joey, his architect, his lawyer and Wavegarden, the owners of the surf park technology to create a site aimed at advertising every section of the park to investors, as well as addressing major concerns the public had about the park.
Catching the big waves.
While the website offers a great general view of the proposed surf park, Barreled is still collecting investment dollars to break ground. And while they have secured $20 million, they still have about $18 million to go.
For that, Joey requested a tight pitch deck be made for potential investors - to provide evidence that their monies are going to the right place.
gear up.
Along with more temporary items, Joey and I also launched a merchandise campaign aimed at normalizing surfing as a Yakimanian tourist activity.
We took the historic and hilarious sign that everyone sees upon entering Yakima which reads, “Welcome to Yakima, the Palm Springs of Washington” and redesigned it as, “Welcome to Yakima, the Surf Capitol of Washington”.
As well - Surf Yakima has been a persistent slogan that we have used throughout the process as a marketing tool, but as a goal of the project.
To the right are some cool hats I designed with the above in mind.
