Physique Fitness

Evolving an Existing Fitness Studio Brand in Pursuit of Scale

Boosting business growth through a completely refreshed visual identity and brand experience.

Project
Brand Identity Design + Strategy 2019-2020
Services
Art Direction, Brand Identity System, Brand Guidelines, Campaign, Creative Strategy, Messaging, Positioning, Visual Identity System, Print Collateral, Research
Industry
Fitness
Roles
Tiffany Smith - Brand Strategist, Art Director, Graphic Designer

Client

About Physique Fitness

Physique Fitness is a boutique fitness spot founded by personal trainer and life coach Lisa that was dedicated to women's health and wellness.

Physique Fitness offered a variety of classes, personal training, specialized equipment, and bootcamp workshops that helped members achieve their goals through physical and mindset coaching.

But what made the gym unique was the community. Members loved coming to workout because of the positive atmosphere and the comradery they felt. The gym provided a place that made people feel like they were making progress towards their goals — without judgement.

Objective

Phitness For All

After experiencing a lull in new membership subscriptions, the owner, Lisa, wanted to shift her small target audience from women-only to gender-inclusive for all fitness enthusiasts.

We were brought in to refresh the current feminine brand identity with a look and feel that would speak to all genders and increase sign-ups, and to develop a strategy for rolling out these changes to existing and future members.

Hurdles

Problems to Solve

Providing clarity through productization

Names for group classes and membership subscription tiers were obscure, making it difficult for members to understand what they were signing up for, and challenging for staff to educate new members on the array of confusing products and services. To make it easier to recognize differences between membership options and class types, naming conventions needed to be simplified. Tackling this from a branding perspective and transforming classes into branded products would offer the possibility of franchising in the future.

Unifying a disconnected process and experience

Preparation for group classes was the responsibility of the trainers. Planning new workout routines daily became time consuming because there was no structure to how a class was instructed. Members were also frustrated from lack of consistency between different class instructors, and because they didn’t know what their workout would be until they arrived at class. Operations had to be streamlined to give trainers the tools they needed to plan classes efficiently, and to provide every member with the same quality, predictability, and consistent experience.

Defining a visual identity that welcomes all genders

The gym already had a dedicated member-base of women, and some had expressed that they may feel uncomfortable in a gender-inclusive environment. Opening gym services to all genders meant that some women may choose to cancel their memberships and go elsewhere. We had to design a comprehensive identity system with visual language and messaging that focused on building genuine connections with the local fitness community to make everyone feel welcome.

Transforming inefficiencies into revenue streams

In addition to group fitness classes, bootcamp style programs, and personal training, the gym offered open-access to exercise equipment. Because the gym was small, members using equipment during open-access was causing challenges for the personal trainers who also needed to use the equipment during their 1:1 sessions. That’s why Lisa wanted to move remove open-access from the standard membership subscription, and instead charge separately for a premium personal training experience that would enable the personal trainers to provide the best training with full access to equipment. Therefore, the new branding had to position Physique Fitness as a premium boutique fitness gym while minimizing friction for existing members during the changes.

Target Audience

Mindfully Member Focused

Local fitness enthusiasts

Interested in lifestyle brands and likes to try trending diets. Prefers group classes over self-initiated workouts. Needs a gym close to home that offers variety in class options and schedules. Looking for additional support to reach their weight goals.

Rigorous exercise aficionados

Always informed on the latest health and wellness trends and loves tech gadgets that track health metrics and progress. Skeptical about most biohacking techniques. Needs a progressive training plan to reach fitness goals. Wants a personal trainer with a scientific approach.

Devoted personal trainers

Active lifestyle and constantly seeking out new ways to move. Advocates for total well-being instead of trending workouts and diets. Needs an efficient way to plan engaging group fitness classes. Wants to ensure students and trainees can perform exercises safely.

Design Process

Modus Operandi

Thumbnail sketches for the logo concepts.

Inspiration for the logo icon was drawn from the shapes of athletic movements.

Let’s get physical!

We worked closely with Lisa to learn the ins and outs of her business.

To get a true taste of the Physique Fitness experience, we participated in classes, personal training sessions, and completed a bootcamp workshop.

We also surveyed members to find out what they enjoyed most about coming to the gym and the message was consistent; the feeling of community.

Old logo design for Physique Women's Fitness.

Previous business card design.

Finding the pulse

Individuals with specific fitness goals need personalized instruction and coaching, and access to facilities and equipment that can elevate their training.

After a thorough brand audit and field research, a plan of action was developed to help the fitness studio appeal to a broader member base through a revamped and comprehensive brand identity that would include visual language and a messaging framework.

The shape of the logo icon is a nod to a heartbeat pulse, conveying the idea that when you come to Physique Fitness for a workout, you can expect to break a sweat and feel energized.

Details

Design

Designed to convey a premium look and feel, and signal that Physique Fitness was a gender-inclusive space, a strong geometric typeface was paired with a playful and vibrant icon — pulsing with passionate energy in an intense blue hue, together conveying strength and prestige with a little bit of attitude.

Inspired by the idea that members of Physique Fitness are goal-getters who never quit, the zig-zag-esque icon implies dynamic forward momentum, and represents the beating pulse of the brand — that Physique Fitness isn't just another gym facility, but that it's a brand that really cares about helping members along on their health journey.

A brand cheatsheet was created to make it easy for admin staff to stay on-brand when communicating to members through digital channels.

Messaging

A messaging framework that included catchy phrases and branded language like "Let's get #PHIT" was created to engage with members to build the community, while building Physique Fitness into an instantly recognizable business.

Social media engagement

A social media strategy to communicate and educate on the fitness studio’s values and offerings was developed and implemented in an effort to grow membership signups, and help make the transition for current members less stressful.

Results

Prepped for Gains

To ease current members into the new flow, co-ed classes were rolled out in increments.

And, the gym space was updated with posters, wall stickers, and fresh paint to create a cohesive branded environment so that members never felt alienated or out of place. Physique Fitness was now a premium inclusive workout spot, and transforming into a gender inclusive gym proved to be a success as new members joined.

Impact

The entire brand strategy was designed to create a gender-inclusive brand world to fully immerse clients and employees in the Physique Fitness ethos, and speak to them in multiple ways through visual engagement and brand storytelling.

Integrating the new brand messaging into newsletters, social posts, and signs hung up in the local community created a culture around “phitness” and strengthened the Physique community by encouraging members to make the brand their own using the fun catchphrases.