Next Up Performance
Rebrand
Role
Art Direction and Design
Tools
Canva + Adobe Illustrator
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Overview
Next Up Performance is a five-year-running sports training and development brand. After growing a strong client base, the founder was ready to establish a brand identity and build a website to showcase case studies, highlight brand values, and streamline booking and communication.
Visual Exploration: Mood Board Round One
To kick off the visual direction, I created two distinct mood boards to explore tone, typography, and imagery style. Each board offered a different lens on how the brand could look and feel.
Mood Board 1 (Left):
This board combined display serif fonts with condensed, athletic typefaces to offer a range of tone, from classic to competitive. I focused on training and action-based imagery enhanced by motion blur, emphasizing the feeling of speed and drive.
Inspired by the name Next Up, I leaned into arrow motifs and directional energy as key visual cues. I also explored both dark and light UI directions to understand the client's tone preferences.
Mood Board 2 (Right):
The second board took a more grounded, lifestyle-focused approach. I used textures pulled from courts and tracks, surfaces the audience naturally connects with. The photography was lighter, featuring everyday moments in sports.
The typography leaned minimal: subtle serif faces paired with bold, versatile logos. This direction spoke to the community, accessibility, and heart behind the brand.
I also introduced a few copy tone suggestions, one being “Level Up Your 1v1s”, aimed at expanding the brand’s appeal from team-based training to individual and recreational athletes.
What's Next
These two boards laid the foundation for Round 2 refinements, where we began merging elements and applying them across logo concepts, brand voice, and the website design system.
Round 2
The client was drawn to the energy and clarity of Mood Board 1, but asked to shift the color palette to reflect his alma mater, Syracuse University. This change led to a bold transformation of the brand’s visual core: transitioning from a dominant red to a vibrant, athletic orange, symbolizing energy, momentum, and grit.
Understanding the high-intensity nature of sports training, I looked for ways to bring motion into the design system. I introduced blur effects to simulate speed and power, and emphasized a forward-facing arrow motif the client loved, reinforcing the brand’s themes of growth and acceleration.
Messaging & Marketing
As we explored brand voice and marketing hooks, I developed slogans that speak directly to the mindset of athletes and their parents:
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“Speed Up, Level Up”
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“Discipline and Drive”
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“I Train Champions”
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“Future Champ”
These phrases were designed to work across channels, from digital campaigns to apparel, giving the brand flexibility while staying rooted in its mission.
Logo Exploration
The logo direction was guided by the brand’s promise: training for next-level performance. I incorporated weights (strength), arrows (progression), trophies (achievement), and emphasized the ‘X’ in “Next” as a core symbol of transformation and determination.
I'll update the progress once the client moves on with the website design.
Thank you for your time and patience.
