The Highest Echelon
of Competitive
Snowboarding.
CREATIVE DIRECTION
BRAND DESIGN
BRAND STRATEGY
APPAREL DESIGN
PRODUCT DESIGN
BROADCAST DESIGN
UI DESIGN
UX STRATEGY
Credits - Travis Rice, the Great Manifester, and a sprawling cast of hardworking visionaries - including our old friend and COO, Liam Griffin, CEO Carter Westfall, and legend Circe Wallace guided this project forward. Toby Grubb handled the brand strategy, product design, and digital creative direction. Digital creation of the Event Randomizer by Tyler McRobert. Brand design by Kevin Evans, Denis Kegler, Adam Bagerski, and Toby Grubb. Nick Koldenhoven, John Rodosky, Uncle Toads, and Raw Motion were responsible for all motion and broadcast. Minimal Massive rendered the initial 3D concepts. Special thanks to Elise Timothy and Matt Bluher at Backcountry.com for bringing the product to life. Random shouts to Pat Moore, Selema Masekela, T-Bird, Brantley, JP, TimZim, and an endless list of wonderful human beings for their amazing contributions.
Corporate outdoor events and media platforms no longer represent the goals of their athletes. For nearly 20 years, professional snowboarder and outdoorsman, Travis Rice has been propelling that conversation forward.
In February of 2021, amidst a global pandemic - a critical time for our community and our planet, we worked with Travis to breathe life into the Natural Selection Tour, a 2021 Clio Award Winner and Emmy nominee. With COVID-19 inspiring a 50% increase into snowsports participation, we capitalized on growing interest and imparted authentic, educational messaging.
Totaling 6.5b total impressions and over 42.1m minutes of watch time, the quantitative results were astounding and set records across action sports media, but it was the resounding feedback across the industry that 'the sport was forever changed' that served as our key metric of success.
In an effort to bring nature into your living room, we crafted immersive, inspiring, and complex content through the use of world-class racing drones - an industry first.
The three-pointed logo represents the connection between riders, nature, and the knowledge gained therein.
It also represents the three inaugural locations: Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Nelson, British Columbia Canada, Tordrillo Mountain Range, Alaska - with the center void awaiting the tour champions. In three-dimensional space, the logo also represents a crown — the basis for the trophies.
"It's been more than 20 years in the making, and it's the kind of event professional snowboarding has been waiting for.”
.
Forbes
Iconography was created to illustrate the story pillars of evolution, mankind, and mother nature. Familiar biological, geological, and anatomical themes are paired with sacred geometry, golden ratios, and natural blueprints to stress our interconnectedness. This geometry also informed the design of a custom typeface - Natural. This was paired with Sneak Mono from Tighttype for data, measurements, and the small print.
The iconic rider vests were designed by Toby Grubb and produced by Brown Buffalo with patches by Iron Thread.
The 2021 website (left) simply tracked the riders in attendance, their finishings, the locations, and all media streams. However, the 2022 site (above) aims to bring a new level of immersion and interactivity to spectators. The Natural Selection Tour will continue host multi-dimensional events, media, and experiences that celebrate Mother Nature as the main character.
