A Visual Identity for the national German Skateboarding Team
What’s cool and German?
The German lifestyle is not know for its Californian coolness, you may think.
Mostly it is the obvious – The Umlauts or Metal-Umlauts* as they’re called in pop-culture terminology.
Motörhead, Stüssy, Beastie Boys and many more … why not us, the Germäns :-)
Defining a new letter was like occupying a public space. Turning a bench or stairs into a skateboarding obstacle.
It also gave the team the creative freedom to have their own letter.
Metal Umlauts at Wikipedia
The athletes had the chance to get their hands on their own interpretation of the logo
On the website we incorporated versions of the logo wherever possible to establish its playfulness
Traditionally a counter-culture, skateboarding is not known for showing off national symbols. Hence the secondary color palette from an inverted German flag.
The initial team deck design is inspired by former female Bauhaus artist Alma Siedloff-Buscher’s wooden block toy set, to reflect the endless variations that often hide in simple elements.