GTF Outdr

WORK-LIFE BALANCE? IT'S A STATE OF MIND 🤯

Outdr is a new booking platform made by a group of designers, engineers, and outdoor enthusiasts, with a mission to enable learners like themselves to discover new outdoor activities, and help connect them to the world’s best schools and instructors.

They needed a suitably exciting brand, and future visual direction.

↑ click to view outdr animation commission by the supremely gifted Sophie Rogers ✨

Discover more

ACTIVITIES FOR EVERYONE

To ensure only verified quality courses are available, the Outdr booking service offers an exclusive selection of top schools, hand-picked by their dedicated team based on personal interactions and expert recommendations. Transactions are powered by forward-thinking payment processors Stripe.

The platform effectively works as an online marketplace, connecting prospective learners and schools, and facilitates a convenient discovery and booking process between them.

Outdr collates supply and demand in real time, enabling learners to quickly find a variety of activities in any chosen location in Europe, and allowing schools to customise their response to each learner enquiry.

“I don’t care about the price. I want to get there fast, and benefit most out of the limited time I have.”

— Alain, 33

“It’s a whole new universe. It’s basically seeing things you’ve never seen before in your life.”

— Kornelija, 33

↑ value proposition: connect activity seekers and providers on one platform

What can I do

AND WHERE CAN I DO IT?

A landing page with an advanced search bar serves as the base structure. Users can simply search by destination, activity or the school name. 'Madlib' text completion capability offers immediately visible search results.

What's it like?

We spoke to instructors about the freedom to work outside, school owners about challenges such as taking bookings whilst moving around, and to learners about planning trips, and which activities particularly interested or inspired them.

Our interviewees - and primary target group - were between 20-40 years old, predominantly middle-class, lived and worked in Europe, and had the means to travel abroad. Most were active singles or couples, a few with young kids. All had grown up with the internet, and were frequent users of web research, social media, and online booking platforms.

Almost all worked regular day jobs, and felt life was passing by quickly, with a distinct lack of time to spend outdoors.

“I like running, alone with my thoughts, especially up mountains, in nature.”

— Emily, 22

↑ learner on a recent climbing course in Tarifa, Spain

Adapting to the elements

Dappled shade, soft ground, rustling leaves, salt and ice. Waiting to start what you're here for, with a tingle along the spine. The 100 times you get it wrong, and then, the first time you get it right. This is what matters, now.

The shimmer

We all know the persistent longing, to travel, get away, connect with nature, and the unknown. Once amongst it, bombing down a fresh powder slope or learning how to slice through crystal clear surf, the world gives way to peaceful focus, just for that moment.

transience and iridescence

Because these moments happen in nature, and are transient by nature, an iridescence effect seemed like a suitable creative theme: ever changing, volatile, adaptive, gone in the blink of an eye, leaving wonder in its wake.

Whilst researching activities, I found my concept echoed in unanimously bright colours and iridescence in sports fashion, high-performance gear (goggles, reflective jackets), natural environments (weather formations, seashells, precious stones etc) as well as current tech + design trends.

+ magnify moodboard fashion / athleisure

Identity

The brand name Outdr is pronounced 'outdoor'. What if the two missing ‘O’s intersected in a logomark, creating a kind of portal to the outside?

Digital versions of the logo could shape shift, mirroring the transitory elements. Likewise, adapting to volatile elements in high-performance sports gear demanded a polished 3D render visual treatment.

Further research revealed the perfect 3D shape was already out there, hidden deep in the folders of MATLAB: the 'Klein Bagel' . This shape is boundary free, it's inside is its outside, it has no edge and therefore it contains itself. This made for a satisfactory portal.

I quickly learned that the iridescent shimmer I imagined on the complex 3D shape required more than a messy gradient mesh. As my skills did not yet match the task, I hired a talented 3D visualiser to apply final touches of brand colours, and render the shape to its final form in a variety of colourways. Smooth elegance next to a bold, cutting-edge logotype gives additional impact and standout in a busy marketplace.

NEXT STEPS

Outdr aims to collaborate with more emerging UK digital artists to create custom animated idents for social 🙌🏽, and further shape shifting logo versions await
✨🎉🏄🚴‍♀️🏂🧗‍♂️ ✨