Key Takeaways:
- Motorsport design follows a narrow visual script
- Moodboards can reveal hidden biases and open creative possibilities
- Visual culture shapes who feels invited to participate in a space
Before I start designing anything for the Karting Rebranding project, I made a giant visual research wall. I gathered branding from karting tracks, F1 teams, racing leagues, old magazines, merch shops, and event posters. It started out as a way to get inspired but quickly turned into a visual audit of what’s “allowed” in motorsport design. Here’s some of the patterns that were impossible to ignore:
- Dark colors
- Heavy sans-serifs
- Lots of straight lines and grids
- Emphasis on speed, sharpness, “tech.”
- Almost no softness
- And definitely no pink
Once I had that overview, I started questioning it. Why do we associate a certain design language with performance? Why does making something look “serious” mean using black and red and minimal type? Who are we excluding by doing that over and over?
This became a kind of starting point for me. Like, how far can I stretch those rules and still make something feel “motorsport”? Could karting feel a little more like community and a little less like corporate sponsorship? Could we bring in different aesthetics without losing the sense of speed and focus?
