Author: elisabeth.seiler

If you want to see the “Lifestyle Branding” dream in its wildest form, you have to look at the Mercedes–AMG x Palace Skateboards collaboration. A German luxury performance brand meets a gritty London skate label. At first it made no sense to me. But it was actually a genius move.

One thing the fashion world understands better than the sports world is Desire. Most sports teams want to sell as much merch as possible to as many people as possible. In the end, that’s mass produced stuff that also feels cheap. Lifestyle and more exclusive brands do the opposite: they make less than people want.

When you go to a the F1 Race at the Red Bull Ring, you usually get a special version of the Red Bulletin —a booklet filled with all of the Red Bull Content, ads, (Red Bull) driver infos, and maybe some more information. And while Red Bull is generally doing a good job, it’s designed to be used for a few hours and then thrown in the bin.

Materiality is about weight-to-strength ratios. In FS, ee use carbon fiber because it’s light and stiff. We use aluminum because it can handle the stress of the suspension. But in the world of branding, materiality is about tactile emotion.

We can’t talk about modern motorsport without talking about the “Drive to Survive” effect. The Netflix Series didn’t just bring in more fans but it also changed the demographic of the fans. For the first time, we have a massive, young, and increasingly female audience that cares as much about the drama, the personalities, and the vibe as they do about the technical specs.

If you look at 99% of motorsport branding, the typography follows a very predictable recipe: italicized, bold, and sans-serif. It’s a visual shorthand for fast. The slant mimics the wind, the weight mimics the power. It’s fine, but it’s also a bit of a cliché. In the world of high-end lifestyle branding, typography isn’t just about speed but more about voice.

For a while now I’ve been obsessed with the tension between two very different racing aesthetics. On one hand, you have the “Old Money” vibe like Goodwood Revival, vintage Rolex ads, and leather driving gloves. It’s elegant, it’s beige, and it’s very quiet.

What if data could serve a visual purpose in branding? That’s what Ive been researching and experimenting with. Sports in general, but also motorsports, is a data driven sport. You can find countless of graphs, informations, sensor data,… everywhere. So why not use it as the core of a visual identity?

In the end of last month, I attended the FAT Ice Race in Zell am See. The event combines motorsports, lifestyle, fashion, music, and brand on a snowy airfield. My focus was not only on the racing, but on the overall creative experience of the event. In addition, I produced content for my portfolio on site to document visual narratives in the event context.

If there’s one person who perfectly bridges the gap between high-performance machines and high-brow art, it’s Daniel Arsham. You’ve probably seen his work, if not you should check it out sometime!