I’ll be straight with you: having branding that aligns with who you are as a racer and person is paramount to building credibility and loyalty among your fans (and sponsors!). And it should be the first thing you think about before creating a website and/or committing to social media.

So, if you haven’t built a visual brand identity yet, here are three tips to get you started before you even have a logo designed:

Team Name

Remember that this will be your domain name for your website and your social media usernames when choosing your team name. It’ll also be on your merchandise and other printed materials. Lookup domain and username availability before setting on your team name. Also, make sure it’s something that is easy to relay and be memorable; if you are using your nickname or car number chances are fans won’t remember it and won’t know how to look you up.

Branding Colors

You need to use colors that identify with who you are. There is so much information online about color psychology (the effect that different colors have on people), so make sure you check that out to choose colors that trigger the right emotions and thoughts. Colors like red convey a sense of passion, hunger, and attraction; brands that feature blue tell people they’re trustworthy, proficient, and strong. 

Choose branding that conveys the primary themes you want people to know about you. Want to be seen as feminine? Feature pink. Want to be seen as intense and dominating? Black is for you.

Whatever colors you choose, make sure that you stick to them (and your brand fonts) across all of your platforms: Social media, website, marketing materials, merch, and so on.

Logo Placement

A great logo will use colors, type, and symbols to convey the persona of your brand with just one image. Using it consistently across your materials will help drive the effectiveness of your branding home.

Where will the logo be at? Hats, merchandise, starting line shirts for the crew, on your trailer, placement on your car, firesuit, helmet, etc. Will it be embroidered or screen printed? This all affects how a designer will create your logo. Your logo designer should give you appropriate versions of your logo to give you some wiggle room on how to match it to the materials, but also keep you within boundaries that preserve the integrity of your brand.

Having your brand defined is essential because everything needs to be aligned. From website to car rendering, and from merchandise to social media, it all has to be consistent so you can create a memorable experience for your fans and sponsors!

Need help building your racing brand?

You can either hire a graphic designer, like myself (shameless plug), or, you can do it all on your own with the online training I created inside of Driven by Social. It’s the exact process I follow when building a brand for one of my racing clients. Go ahead and get started with the first video training + workbook in Part 2 by clicking >>> HERE.