Keith Black Racing Branding & Brochure

Context: Keith Black was a legend in the racing industry as a boat racer, speed record holder and inventor of top fuel racing engine blocks. After his passing in 1991, his son continued a shop producing the famous engine blocks. After years of administrative decay, Keith Black Racing Engines was purchased by an investor group with the goal resurrect the name to its proper place in the industry. The blocks produced by the factory were still understood to be the best, a reputation within the industry for years of poor customer service and almost dead lead times were some of the challenges the new investment group was tasked to reverse in the market place.

Direction: Create the branding that will present the company as the gold standard and industry leader. The product is technical and powerful. The brand is rich in history and acclaim. It must project a company that is professional and dependable.

Branding: The first thing that seemed self-evident was the color scheme. With the name "Black" and connection to HEMI engines, which are know for the "HEMI" orange, Black and Orange would be the brands leading colors. Right off the bat I thought of the branding success of Harley Davison and it being equally rich in history. This color scheme, in a subtle way could benefit from a value connection.

Playing around with factory images, I loved the affect of the mid-tone and shadow treatment and how it could be used for backgrounds. The technical content that was coming would look best in a clean and clinical environment, so white areas of text and fields were going to be propionate. The stark contrast between Black and White felt strong and confident and aligned well with the company's edict. Further development of the brand imagery was done under the website design project.

A disruption in the transfer of ownership set back plans and at one time I was tasked to do a logo for a company named BLACK under Keith Black Inc. The extend time in litigation and the need to setting up a new factory for manufacture delayed the delivery of content and the website launch. At the time I departed Icon Internet Media the website was still waiting on Keith Black Inc. for completion and launch.