X Marks the Spot
XWORX Inc. has been one of my favorite branding projects in years. A few reasons being, the founder of XWORX Inc. Billy Hyde, is one of my childhood best friends. Another being that this was a complete team effort between all the members of Cannawise and our client which led to a great concept that created a strong brand and brought back some amazing childhood memories.
To tell the story of this brand, I need to share a little bit of my childhood. I grew up in the 1970’s in a subdivision of San Diego, California, called Allied Gardens. Allied Gardens was developed on hills overlooking canyons and gulches that connected the neighborhoods with each other. We knew all our neighbors, we drank from the hose, and we went home when the streetlights turned on. It was a much simpler time and always full of adventure. To get to your friends’ houses it meant taking the short cuts through canyons and sometimes even hopping house fences to the next street over, everything was our playground.
As I mentioned it was the 70’s and us groms were stoked on hand me down albums, bikes, roller skates, skateboards and surfboards. The radio was filled with the sounds of Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles, the neighborhoods filled with kids playing in the streets. Billy and I grew up with baseball, BMX, and big gulps. Billy had a Royce Union bike that had a giant spring in the frame, mimicking a motorcycle suspension. Billy would bounce on the back wheel and when he figured out how to bunny hop a curb, it was game on. We were obsessed with jumping curbs and learning tricks. We stripped our bikes of reflectors, fenders and banana seats to lighten the load. We took things apart and made them new again.
New neighborhoods were still being built out and we explored these areas on our bike, me on a Redline and Billy on a Diamondback. Within a few miles of where we grew up, there were several amazing BMX go-to places. One was Jackson Drive, a long road down the backside of our neighborhood that was being built. When we discovered Jackson, it was a long, wide, two-mile downhill dirt road with jumps all the way down. Next was the Hill & Dale Apartments (aka “The Apartments”). This place was full of latch-key kids, stoners, and even my older sister Ilana and her crew. It was the end of a canyon with an eight-foot (seemed like 20) dirt hill that was perfect to catch some serious air on our bikes. The greatest spot of all of them was Hill & Dale Canyon, which was three houses from where Billy grew up. This canyon had been carved out by motorcycles in the early 70’s and we took advantage of what was there and built a real BMX track with some of the older kids. It was a downhill track with berms and an awesome double jump that happens to be where I face-planted, almost biting a hole through my lip, I still have the scar to prove it.
XWORX Inc. is on the forefront of evolution, making global sourcing lighter and faster like the aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber of the BMX industry in the early 80’s.
Branding the Company
Back to the brand…. BMX was all we cared about for many years. The first wave of BMX branding was brilliant. It was all about branding, the team colors, logo jerseys, racing plates, lightning bolts, and cool letterforms. The evolution of new designs, aluminum and titanium frames, carbon fiber and alloy parts, made everything lighter and faster! The BMX industry visually mimicked the motocross industry and it was booming. So-Cal entrepreneur, Bob Haro, was a millionaire at 21 years old by making handlebar race plates and plastic accessories for us BMX’ers, eventually bikes, and even developing a freestyle team. You’re welcome Bob for all our paper route money we gave you!
When I began working on this brand, I couldn’t get my early BMX years riding with Billy out of my head. Crisscrossing though canyons, making tracks, and early BMX design. It played a huge influence on designing this brand. My creative partner Carolyn introduced a color palette that felt very fresh with a medium orange and sky blue. I had some variations on screen when our Director of Online Marketing, Jill, walked by my office and immediately said there’s a famous race car with those colors. She then pulled up the 1966 Lemans winner, the Ford GT 350 and there it was, the most recognizable color palette in car racing, on the most famous car in racing. When Billy saw it he knew everything about the car and its famous win over Ferrari. He immediately loved it and it resonated with his business XWORX Inc.
With award winning design, global sourcing, innovative packaging, and streamlined management; XWORX Inc. is the GT 350 of the space. XWORX Inc. is also on the forefront of industry evolution, making global sourcing lighter and faster like the aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber of the BMX industry in the 80’s. The brand has an international feel and appeal, with a Racer X coolness to it. Intersections crossing, arrows directing growth and flight, all while feeling centered and balanced.
In further research the actual color names for the Gulf Racing Team are 3707 Zenith Blue, and 3957 Tangerine. Both were developed by Llewellyn Rylands for the Gulf GT40s as pigment dyes that were used in the fiberglass body panels on the cars. These are in fact the first trademarked colors in the sport of car racing.
Scott Johnson is an old school design mechanic who lives on a volcano in the middle of the Pacific. He has broad experience in digital media, art direction, graphic design, app development, visual communication, web design and SEO, illustrating, event production, film making and producing.
Scott entered the cannabis space years ago working with the likes of legendary glass artists “Jerome Baker” as well as being the creative director and digital media creator for Ganjafest the first cannabis festival in Hawai‘i that was an educational music event about the benefits of cannabis.
Cannawise is a full-service creative agency. We create compelling brands, storytelling and strategy; online brand management, campaigns, digital experiences, and retail product launch. We deliver market share for our clients in the B2B/B2C cannabis economy, and awareness for cannabis advocacy organizations and institutions. Cultivating brands worldwide.