GRIN TECHNOLOGIES, Logo Contest FAQ

What is the origin of the GRIN name? Does it stand for something?

GRIN comes from the fabled "EV Grin" that everyone talks about the first time they ride an electric vehicle. It's something that we've consistently noticed that any person who test ride an ebike winds up with a beaming smile on their face. It could become a backronym too, if someone's clever here.

What are your core values? I know your background is engineering. Is your focus R+D, education, or importing and sales?

Our long term mission is to advance the revolution in personal electric vehicles by designing, engineering, and manufacturing better electric drive components and accessories. These will all be made under the "GRIN" brand and will be sold at the end of the day to OEM users and DIY enthusiasts. But we ourselves will never be making or selling complete ebikes, scooters, or skateboards of any kind, just the electric conversion parts. So that's why it is important to have a well recognized and consistent brand image to go along with our line of conversion goods.

What kind of product line do you plan to get into. Is it restricted to ebikes only, or all EVs?

Our interest is purely in personal EV's. So electric bikes and trikes, electric unicycles, electric scooters, powerboards, and to a limited extent electric motorcycles. Basically anything that might be a technologically disruptive, fun, and efficient transportation mode. That limits our interest in electric cars (which we don't see as particularly fun, disruptive, or efficient).

How is this Logo going to be used. Is it for your website, T-shirts, merchandise, official letter head? all of the above?

We want the logo to be an easy visual identifier with the GRIN brand, that would be used (discretely) on our products and also on signage and documents related to our company. So yes to all of that, but in a subtle way since we're not keen on overt marketing and in-your-face logos.

What's wrong with the current logo with the stick figure flying up a hill on his ebike?

The current doodle at the top of our ebikes.ca webpage is fun and represents our activities to a large degree, but it was originally sketched for the UBC electric bike club and was never to be a brand or product logo, just a logo for the website. It is too complex to work well in a small size on some of our products (ex the LED bike lights), and though fun it's also perhaps not serious enough for when our own products are incorporated in 3rd party EV's. It's also a bit bicycle-centric given that we've got a lot of ambition down the road in the electric skateboard and unicycle areas.

Are there specific colours that you have in mind? Or does the logo have to be black and white?

We don't have a colour pallet yet, though that is something we hope as well to settle on with the new logo, and then we'll redo our website and paint our shop to match. It is important that it works will in just a 2-tone image, since we'll be laser engraving it on a lot of our products which will be made from anodized aluminum.

Is there a specific look you are hoping for? Something light and uplifting or something more serious and businesslike? Modern or traditional?

As for the look, we'd be trying to find the right balance that captures the lighthearted and uplifting aspect of our flying ebiker dude but can still be taken seriously by big business. As for modern or traditional, we're going for styles that will stand the test of time, nothing trendy. We're hoping to build something that is still around 10-20 years from now.

Is there particular imagery you'd like to stay away from?

As for imagery, we like things that convey a sense of motion or speed, and light spiritedness. Our initial draft logo is just GRIN with the three speed lines in front of the G to make it seem like it is moving. There is a lot of overused stuff with electrical plugs, lightening bolts etc. in this logo space that we want to avoid. If there's a clever way to get the appearance of an actual grin in there, then that'd be awesome, but all of our attempts have looked way too obvious and childish. Also, we'd prefer to avoid bicycle imagery that makes us look like a bike company. A vehicle that is a bit more abstract than a bicycle as such is OK. Wheels by themselves are great, since every vehicle type we're involved with will have hub driven wheels.

Is there a deadline for this competition?

We're having a planning retreat on Dec 5th-7th and are hoping to have a lot of good ideas to pour over, but we won't officially end the contest until we have settled on something that we really like.