Presca is the UK’s first company to create performance sportswear from recycled materials, including plastic bottles and abandoned fishing nets. They specialise in innovative cycling, triathlon and athletic teamwear. They approached us with a clear goal - to create a distinctive brand for a European market, whilst remaining true to their values and UK heritage.
The brand’s founders have a vision to produce sports clothing that is performance-led yet ethically sourced. They couldn’t find it for themselves so they decided to disrupt the market and create it. With a vision that every cyclist in the UK owns a piece of their kit in ten years’ time, Presca's ambition to become one of the UK’s industry leaders in the manufacture of teamwear for cyclists and triathletes is unrivalled.
The popularity explosion of cycling, and the fact there are more over-40s than ever wanting to get fitter, presented a fantastic market opportunity, but it was clear from the outset that this was going to be a tricky task considering how saturated the sportswear market already is. Like any startup, the challenge was to create a brand that was distinctive and supported by solid foundations from the start to fulfill their international growth ambitions.
The brand takes its influence from its performance ability, strength and sustainable qualities. We also gave character to the brand’s personality through archetypes which inspired the brand story and key messaging. Paramount to the brand is the archetype of the 'pioneer' - someone who is always looking forwards, developing new ways of doing things and advocating original thought.
Presca chose The Creative Alchemist to distill the brand’s messaging, tone of voice, vision, mission and values so that a strategic foundation, from which to develop a clear brand identity for this unique product range, could be created.
We researched logos which were reminiscent of classic English style fonts as our inspiration for the logo, and then joined the ‘R’ and ‘E’ as a subtle hint to the ‘togetherness’ of being a team, also mimicking the curves of the road, the crests of waves and the undulations of the ground underfoot. The wider brand is heavily inspired by the movement of herds, flocks and swarms of animals in nature.
Gradients and smooth repeating patterns were designed to add a sense of dynamism, speed and movement. We decided to use this as inspiration as it reflects the community of athletes, celebrating how they come together and push each other to achieve their best. As part of the brand identity we also created the first release of their own branded products, applying the design across their whole range of products including jerseys, bib shorts, gilets and suits.
We designed a website that hosts a platform to sell their own range of clothing, as well as providing individual teams with the ability to easily set up their own custom-made teamwear ‘shop’. Eventually we hope to develop the site even further to include an interactive 'build your own' tool that will enable teams to design their kit online.
Presca teamwear launched at the 2018 London Bike Show and is set to rival some of the biggest sportswear names in the market. With further investment planned in R&D and manufacturing in 2018, and sales figures expected to triple in the next financial year, the company is committed to finding new and innovative ways to improve the performance teamwear market whilst facing today’s environmental challenges head on.
Presca’s visual identity was motivated by their passionate environmental values, love of sustainability and belief in UK manufacturing.