Thunderbird Storm Logo

The Triumph Thunderbird Storm is a beast, there's no doubt about it. Now I'm not the most bike-savvy person out there but even I can appreciate what an impressive machine this really is. If you're searching for the type of power that will leave your stomach behind when you open up the throttle, then look no further. At just under 1700cc this is a force to be reckoned with.
It occurred to me that this edition of the standard Thunderbird model didn't have it's own identity and it's not particularly distinguishable from it's slightly less formidable brother. I thought the best way to display the storm's individuality would be to give it its' own logo. 

The colour choice here was pretty straightforward; Triumph corporate colours are blue and white, so job done.
I've always been a fan of stencil logos and single colour icons; they are clean, clear and versatile. I must admit I was influenced here by the shape and layout of football clubs' badges; Middlesbrough and Sochaux come to mind at this point.
The bird image you see in the centre is the official emblem used by Triumph on it's Thunderbird models so it seemed pretty essential to include it. It's been around since the classic Thunderbird model of the 1940's so I imagine is recognisable amongst most bikers.
The curved text you see at the top of the logo was something I was keen to use on this project. I'll admit that I have always associated text-warping like this with word art, finding it pretty visually offensive. However, I recently came across a few examples of curved text effectively used in logo designs and fancied giving it a go myself. It took a bit of tinkering and ultimately a subtle adjustment really does produce the best outcome.


Triumph motorcycles are understandably quite protective of branding and so this project was never intended for public use. Hopefully I'll be able to put this to use as a template or something in the future for similar work.