Challenge

Standing out from the racket

With the padel market booming, there has been a massive influx of new brands and products looking to get a piece of the action. But all too often these brands are driven by fleeting trends and quick profits – resulting in cheap, low quality equipment.

Padelsmith’s founder wanted to create the antidote to all of this; A single racket business model that turns away from superficial range options and standardised production to focus on innovative design, quality materials and traditional manufacturing.

Insight

Celebrate the substance

The padel racket market is overwhelmed with similar, performance focused products sporting the same ‘high-octane’ branding and flashy graphics. Whilst performance is obviously key to any good racket, it’s just one part of the story for our founder. What really sets his rackets apart is the provenance. Designed in Britain and hand finished in Andalusia, Europe’s padel capital, they are expertly engineered and crafted from the finest materials by experienced hands.This is what we needed to shout about.

Idea

Padel. Uncompromised.

The recurring theme throughout our workshops and interviews was the desire for perfection and an unwillingness to compromise on quality. It was this that lead us to our brand idea.

‘Padel. Uncompromised.’ is all about commitment. It’s about settling for nothing less than the best. It’s innovative design and expert engineering, quality materials and traditional manufacturing, authentic provenance and unmatched performance. It’s a driving state of mind for the business and a clear promise to an audience of the most demanding and discerning players.

Naming

A classic approach

Once we had our idea, we needed to come up with a fitting name. Padelsmith was chosen for its simplicity and clear origins in quality craftsmanship (goldsmith, blacksmith etc.) It subtly reflects the combination of British Design and Spanish manufacturing, with ‘padel’ originating from Spanish dialect and ‘smith’ being a traditional British suffix. It was also liked for its premium and established feel which worked well with the modern heritage approach we wanted to take for the identity.

Identity

Standing out by reining in

To match Padelsmith’s unique, single product offer, we wanted to create a brand that would stand out for all the right reasons. Rather than fighting with the brash, sporty nature of the sector, we chose to undercut it with a quiet confidence and self assured minimalism reminiscent of premium brands.

We selected a sophisticated colour palette pairing a smart navy with the warmer tones of traditional clay courts. Elegant typography blends influences from British classics and Spanish flair whilst carefully considered imagery takes reference from fashion, lifestyle and art to really showcase and elevate the racket.

Our less is more approach also stretched to the racket itself which cuts a slick figure in all black with subtle colour pops, minimal graphics and elegant details like embossed logo detailing across the face.

A timeless mark

For the logo we took reference from classic monograms and stamps as we created an icon that cleverly balances the letter P with the silhouette of a padel racket. The flexible mark helps anchor the brand with an established feel whilst also working well across digital platforms.

Disrupting, not disruptive

For a brand with such a strong stance and offer, tone of voice was vital. The aim was to be a disruptor without being traditionally disruptive. Based on our ‘Padel. Uncompromised.’ brand idea, we developed a quietly confident tone of voice that firmly positions Padelsmith as a leader in quality, craft and performance. Messaging is knowing, purposeful and self assured, with just the right amount of bite – very much like the brand itself.

Project disciplines

Brand Strategy, brand identity, photography, CGI, copywriting, animation, brand rollout, brand guidelines.

Project collaborators

Photography: George Powell

Videography: Christopher Vickers

CGIs: Votion

Website: Testbed

Packaging partner: Matter

Logo crafting: Roy Smith