Doug Stone is a qualified UK Athletics coach & personal trainer who works with teenage national title winning elite athletes. Doug came to me in desperate need of a considered identity, tagline and branding package - ranging from printed material to website design - in order to reach prospective clients and stand out from the crowd of personal trainers.  

The challenge with his identity was keeping any design imagery as varied as possible to the industry of health and fitness.  Early research showed that the dumbbell, though very adaptable and iconic, is so widely used that any company or trainer who utilise it faces a very real risk of being lost in a sea of copies.  It also became apparent in the development stage that - though Doug specialises in training elite track athletes - leaning too much on the ‘track’ side (athletic spikes for example) could alienate a vast group of potential clients just looking to improve their general fitness or reduce body fat.  

The wordmark is centred on utilising an instantly recognisable icon/shape of a training/gym shoe, which is hidden within the white-space between the D&S, highlighting how speed & power can be central to not just athletics but also in general fitness, as is the case with HIIT training for weight loss purposes.  

The tagline ‘Doug, Sweat & Tears’ is a paraphrase of a Winston Churchill speech & very common saying ‘Blood, sweat and tears’, which in the modern day is used to describe when something has taken lots of trials and effort on the way to success. The phrase fit perfectly with Doug’s initials and training ethos, it also lends itself very well to apparel and marketing purposes as a call-to-action and motivational tool.

From the moment I started working with David it was clear he was the right designer for me.  He has an incredible depth of knowledge within his profession and is willing to put in the effort that is needed to get the product to its absolute best.

Just like me he is a perfectionist and it is because ff this that everything he produces is of the highest quality.

Doug Stone