Virgin Racing
Strategy
Creative Direction
Design & production
Virgin Racing, now known as Envision Racing, is a prominent team in the Formula E electric motorsport series. During my time there, Envision acquired the team, and I was responsible for integrating the two brands into Envision Virgin Racing in preparation for Season 5. I spearheaded the creative direction and executed all design work.
3sixty Wraps (Vehicle wrappers)
Make Agency (Website)
The Mill (Videography)
Envision is one of the largest renewable energy players in China. Acquiring Virgin Racing was a strategic move to gain a foothold in the electric car market and promote their brand beyond Asia. With Virgin being a household name, it would be an understatement to say there was a significant cultural void to bridge.
Where to begin? I started with the car livery, planning to build everything else around it. I wanted this car to truly stand out on the track, not just for my own ego, but to boost its commercial value for sponsors who needed their branding to capture the audience's attention.
I went down some strange rabbit holes which included zebras, WW2 battle ships and the biology of eye and brain in order to better understand how to ‘make it pop’.
To make things extra fun, there was a delay in releasing the Gen 2 car design to the teams. The majority of the design work was done from a few photos and renders.
I had to fly out to the Geneva Motor Show to get in front of the concept car. We got our hands on a physcal show car a few weeks before we were due on track.
I spent a week in the workshop with 3sixty wraps translating the vision to a practical design template that could be rolled out to the race cars and spare parts.
Colour was a huge challenge. We were keen to maintain the purple from the previous season, however it was incredibly difficult to work with. We went through countless tests, and I'm still not sure about it to this day. The appearance would change based on lighting, surface finish, time of day, and TV channel.
Although the branding was completed, there was still a significant amount of work to launch and promote the new team. In motorsport, everyone's a critic, but the new design seemed to be well-received by both fans and corporate partners.
The rebrand was delivered efficiently as a solo project over eight months, with external support limited to website development, videography, and logistics. My focus on creating an attractive sponsorship platform paid off. Shortly after launch, we secured a £700k+ partnership with Harley Davidson.
