Justin Kirkwood

WTB Product Ads, 2012

Role: Creative Director

A standard practice in mountain bike industry advertising is to feature photographs of products in use. However, while developing an ad campaign for WTB’s 2012 product line, I chose to highlight the company’s beautiful industrial design by isolating each product against a simple black background and eliminating nearly all copy. The result is a striking series of print advertising which both elevates the product line and easily stands out in any publication. 

Gyft Truck Ads, 2015

Role: Art Director

For this project, I was tasked with designing advertising that would be featured on hundreds of trucks in major markets across the country. This design needed to be impactful, and that impact needed to be measurable. My design features a direct and enticing hook, and it includes a unique url so that the number of consumers driven to the Gyft site from these ads could be tracked.

Freedom Catalog, 2015

Role: Creative Director

This digital distributor catalog is meant to not only give information about the 2015 Freedom product line, but also convey to distributors the company’s culture and brand identity. It features striking colors and bold graphics in order to emphasize the company’s connection to urban cycling.

Whistler Mountain Bike Park Custom Saddles, 2008 - 2011

Role: Art Director

As part of a sponsorship agreement between WTB and Whistler Mountain Bike Park, WTB provided custom saddles for Whistler rental bikes, and I was responsible for designing these saddles. In developing a design for the Aviator saddle (top image), I chose to use the map of Whistler Bike Park as my primary artwork. My design for the Rocket V and Pure V saddles (bottom image) feature an image from Whistler’s marketing collateral.

Gyft Card, 2015

Role: Art Director

One of my first projects at Gyft was developing an original concept and design for the company’s first physical Gyft card. The challenge was to produce a design that would entice consumers to pick up a Gyft card, even when it was displayed next to the gift cards of larger brands. My design features a direct and impactful hook which stands out and piques the interest of consumers even in a crowded gift card display.

WTB Brand Standards, 2015

Role: Creative Director

As I oversaw the growth of WTB’s marketing department, it became evident that brand standards needed to be updated and clarified to protect and strengthen brand identity. Of particular concern was ensuring proper application of WTB's logo which, although iconic, has some unique characteristics that can complicate its use.

Shanghai Bicycle Show, 2014

Role: Creative Director

This is one of the many tradeshow exhibits that I design annually for WTB. The unique challenge I faced with this particular design project is that I was limited to only a small amount of floor space within which to create my exhibit. I was tasked with including a meeting space, storage, branding and several product categories in a limited 10x30 foot print. To accomplish this, I positioned the meeting spaces behind an exhibit wall. Not only did this provide privacy for meetings, it provided me with the freedom to use the entire width of the exhibit for branding and product display.

Peaty, 2013

Role: Creative Director

The man featured in this ad, Steve Peat, is a world champion downhill mountain biker. This was part of a UK specific advertising campaign and highlights both Peat’s partnership with WTB, and his endorsement of the WTB Volt saddle. I chose to feature Peat in his local pub as a way of celebrating his accessibility to his fan base and his reputation of being a down to earth and friendly guy. 

Downieville Classic Custom Saddle, 2008

Role: Graphic Design

This saddle was part of a winner’s prize package at the world famous Downieville Classic downhill race. The saddle features a pine tree, many of which make up Downieville’s iconic forests, and the color gold, which I incorporated as a way to celebrate the race winners.

World Champion Custom Saddle, 2009

Role: Graphic Design

In 2009, WTB sponsored athlete Steve Peat won the UCI Downhill Racing World Championship and, as a result, he earned the right to wear the world champion stripes at all races during the following year. In honor of his victory WTB chose to gift him with a custom saddle, which they asked me to design. I incorporated both the world champion stripes as well as his nickname, “Peaty,” to create a one of a kind design for a one of a kind athlete. 

WTB Consumer Catalog, 2015

Role: Creative Director

This is an annual, consumer-facing catalog distributed to customers at tradeshows, races and other promotional events. My contributions to this project include art direction, concept, layout, typography and photo selection. The catalog includes the full WTB product line and features beautiful action photography. From 2007–2015 I produced this catalog each year with an updated design and product line.

TCS Branding, 2010

Role: Graphic Design

As part of WTB’s TCS launch, I was tasked with developing branding concept and design for TCS. One of the key components of TCS is a tube of liquid sealant, and I chose to incorporate this into the TCS logo to promote consumer education with every brand impression.

Trailblazer, 2015

Role: Creative Director

I created this logo as part of a branding project for the Trailblazer adventure tire produced by WTB. The challenge was to create a sleek and sophisticated logo that also captures the rugged nature of the bike-packing experience and appeals to WTB’s consumer base. 

WTB, 2012

Role: Art Director

WTB asked me to create a line of promotional apparel as a form of marketing collateral which was both sold through the company website and used for giveaways at promotional events. I chose to use vibrant colors and large logos so that these pieces would be easily visible when worm by customers at trade shows, product demos and races. Customers responded with enthusiasm by wearing these branded pieces at events, and the result was WTB benefitting from tens of thousands of low-cost and high-visibility brand impressions. 

WTB, 2014

Role: Creative Director

I was tasked with completing a packaging redesign for all WTB product lines that would not only update the overall look and feel of WTB product, but would also simplify messaging to consumers. I chose to use dramatic colors, which contrast with the light colored slat-walls commonly found in retail locations. In addition, I introduced product feature charts as a way of eliminating blocks of difficult to read copy. The end result is a line of sleek packaging with a concise and consistent method of organizing and delivering information to consumers.

WeirWolf Ad, 2010

Role: Graphic Design

In 2010 WTB asked me to design an ad promoting the release of a redesigned version of its flagship tire, the WeirWolf. This tire is named for one of WTB’s most recognizable sponsored athletes, Mark Weir. During this product redesign, Weir became an integral member of the R&D team, spending hours researching and testing each new version until the final product was developed. Because Weir is so beloved within the mountain bike industry, I chose to feature him and highlight his extensive involvement in the development of this tire.