Skate Raleigh
Early in 2022, Skate Raleigh was an idea a handful of people were discussing—they just didn’t know it yet. They were figuring out how to address the complete lack of a skatepark in downtown Raleigh.
An opportunity soon presented itself: A city lot was in the process of being converted into a passive park. The build timeline measured in years, which meant there would be space on the 50,000+ square feet of park property that could be utilized for other purposes in the meantime—like downtown Raleigh’s first skatepark. The soon-to-be Skate Raleigh team aimed high and made this their first project. The skatepark would need to be built in approximately six months, with a shelf-life of two years until the city was ready to break ground on the passive park.
Why Skateparks?
There is a wealth of research and documentation on how skateparks provide a location for the diverse community of wheeled sports enthusiasts. If you do it right, including skate features in the geography of a neighborhood can make it a destination that drives economic growth.
Don’t take our word for it—Skate Raleigh has it covered.
That six-month timeframe included the formation of Skate Raleigh as a non-profit, negotiating with the city, raising the funds, and then—and only then—starting the design and build of the skatepark.
The team at HALO 22 loves a good cause, so we pitched in with our own particular set of skills.
Today, Skate Raleigh is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on increasing opportunities for skaters, bikers, and action sports enthusiasts of all levels in and around Raleigh, NC, through networking and shared expertise.
HALO 22 was along for much of that ride, so grab a beverage and settle in for a good read.
72 Hours
That six month timeframe opened with a 72-hour crunch. Skate Raleigh was moving quickly and needed a proposal for the city. Once that was accepted, Skate Raleigh would move immediately into hosting a kickoff fundraiser. We figured a proposal and single event could be served with an early version of the identity.
Since we were in for the long haul, further refinement and extension of the visual identity would happen over the next two years as the team came together.
HALO 22’s branding enabled Skate Raleigh to be seen by donors, the city, and the general public as a serious and professional non-profit, even though it was newly established. The design materials and overall branding enabled Skate Raleigh to secure substantial early funding from donors that provided the necessary momentum to accomplish our organization's goals. Additionally, City Officials specifically commented on the branding early in our partnership, which helped establish trust in Skate Raleigh as an organization.
—Steve Mangano, Board President, Skate Raleigh
Impact
Not only was the skatepark built, but Skate Raleigh has evolved into the leading advocate for skating and other wheeled sports in the immediate area.
Funds Raised
To date, Skate Raleigh has raised over $350,000 in donations—with tens of thousands in additional in-kind contributions. Construction alone was possible thanks to more than $40,000 of in-kind donations.
Successful Events
Skateparks can be vital parts of a community. To that end, Skate Raleigh has been involved in dozens of events to raise funds and awareness for better skating opportunities throughout the city. These were diverse events, including pop-up skate parks, charity art auctions, clinics, jams, competitions, community meetings, park cleanings, one groundbreaking, and multiple ribbon cuttings.
Conlon Family Skatepark
In record time, a deal was negotiated with the city, and Skate Raleigh and its partners funded, designed, and built a two-and-a-half-acre space for skateboarders, BMX bikers, and roller skaters. The Conlon Family Skatepark welcomes people-powered wheels of all sizes and shapes. It’s also established Skate Raleigh as a voice for the community that can make a difference.
Extending Partnerships
Conlon became a centerpiece for the skateboarding community and formed connections with other communities. These connections included local radio stations, artists, and NC State’s College of Design.
A Bright Future
Because of Skate Raleigh’s effectiveness, they already have a place at the table with the city on where the next downtown park is and are actively engaged in bringing smaller skate opportunities throughout downtown. Skate Raleigh is working with the Dix Park Conservancy to build a permanent, world-class skatepark as part of the Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan.
Skate Raleigh has become a highly effective group focused on advocacy and sharing a growing bank of knowledge and resources.
Recently, I was at a workshop at a small craft school in a tiny coastal NC town, and one of the first things anyone said to me was, “Hey, you have a Skate Raleigh sticker— nice!”
The Skate Raleigh logo designed by HALO 22 has all the ingredients: It’s clean but with a little edge, which makes it instantly recognizable and unique. It resonates with the spectrum audience, appealing to donors in its cool simplicity and looking great as a sticker on a skateboard (or, in my case, a water bottle). It translates seamlessly from large banners to miniature decks—an all-around success.
—Claire Ashby, Vice President, Skate Raleigh
Creativity
From the start, we knew the visual identity for this non-profit had to reflect the skate and action sports audience. At the same time, it had to be able to place the organization as a peer to city officials, potential donors, and community partners if it was to help them advance their near and long-term missions.
Building a Foundation with Type
We started by quickly testing sets of very bold, chunky sans-serif typography—inspired by skate brands such as Vans, Volcom, DC Shoes, and more. We saw no need to reinvent the wheel regarding type, especially since we planned to make it look like the letters had been skated through, so the logotype needed to withstand that treatment and maintain legibility. These constraints helped us build a unique identity without the time for developing imagery or more custom-tailored lettering.
Committing to Creative Color
Raleigh teens and a younger community of skaters were already the champions of this project. So, the logo needed to appeal to a vibrant, energetic, youthful crowd. We chose a neon gradient effect that can be presented with flat or 3D lettering, and we have a lot of room for artful experimentation down the road.
To The Letter
We had a lot of messaging to do, so the visual identity kit would need to include a highly legible reading face. Something modern would help keep the identity feeling new and forward-thinking. For headings, we went with Poppins since it was a close match to the logotype font, ATF Wedding Gothic.
For paragraphs, we chose Inter. Inter is narrower than Poppins, so it’s a stronger selection for long-form content. Both font choices came with the perk of being available via Google Fonts, making it an accessible choice for the Skate Raleigh team.
HALO 22’s work completely hit the mark for Skate Raleigh, capturing an authenticity true to the spirit of the skate community while infusing a level of professionalism that communicated to our sponsors and donors that we are worthy stewards of their financial support. Beyond that, the responsiveness and care with which HALO 22 managed our relationship made working with them an absolute pleasure.
—John Cerqueira, Treasurer, Skate Raleigh
Execution
City Buy-In
Our first deployment of Skate Raleigh’s new identity would be the proposal that would go in front of the city. The plan was solid, but we needed to ensure it was conveyed professionally. The contract was approved quickly, allowing the fledgling organization to move rapidly to the critical next step.
Fundraising
Building and maintaining the park would cost money. We made donations and some limited edition merchandise available on the website. Skate Raleigh knew that a solid initial raise would be required to get off the ground, so a kickoff with elected officials, community leaders, and local skaters was organized, giving the group an early boost of funds.
A larger event centered on silent and live art auctions for commissioned skateboard decks drew a huge crowd and made significant progress on funding the balance of the skatepark build.
Kickoff
Materials for the initial kickoff fundraiser—riffing on the work from the proposal, we produced a summary and pledge cards.
All A-Board
A ticketed event featuring commissioned artists—from nationally recognized to high school students—working on skateboard decks was well attended. We produced a wealth of collateral materials, from name tags and signage to event-specific social media templates to support this effort.
Website and Social Media
The two audience awareness was most apparent in our approach to building the website and social media. The website would cohesively tell the Skate Raleigh story. It’s where city officials, potential partners, and supporters can vet the organization. We are supporting the volunteer team through the end of this year.
Social media has been run by part-time staff and volunteers from the start. Throughout our work together, HALO 22 developed a robust set of social media templates in Canva. The goal was to cover as many bases as possible so the diverse group handling social media could maintain brand integrity.
Event Support
Dozens of events around the city—including at Conlon Family Skatepark—helped Skate Raleigh make its case as the leading advocate for action sports in the City of Oaks.
Park Branding
From the start, we knew that Conlon Family Skatepark would be the first skatepark Skate Raleigh would champion. Our identity work for skateparks would establish a system that could be used moving forward and work well with the Skate Raleigh identity.
Community Collaboration
It started with open-minded city officials, but Skate Raleigh’s collaborative spirit quickly extended throughout the city. Like-minded organizations, music festivals, breweries, a college of design, and local photographers are just some groups that came together to support Skate Raleigh.
The identity kit helped make Skate Raleigh a recognizable and reliable partner.
Hopscotch
A long-running, nationally recognized music festival that takes place every fall in downtown Raleigh, reached out to Skate Raleigh for a pop-up skatepark two years running.
Artists
Skate Raleigh established strong ties with the art community from the start. So they were invited in to make their mark on Conlon Family Skatepark.
A local photographer donated art for a Rolling in Raleigh exhibition as a fence wrap, making the park more visible to the thousands of commuters passing the site nearly daily.
Cloud Skater
Trophy Brewing Company reached out for a collaboration on their “Cloud” line of beers. The HALO 22 team went all in on collaborating with the folks at Trophy. We aimed to create label art that got attention on the shelves and expanded Skate Raleigh’s reach via Trophy’s existing fan base. At the same time, we wanted to honor Cloud Skater’s place in the rest of Trophy’s line-up. A side benefit of this project is that it generated additional image assets for Skate Ralegh—extending the visual tools in the kit.
SK8SHADES
The product of a public-private partnership between the NC State College of Design, a local builder, and the City of Raleigh brought much-needed shade to the skatepark.
We can’t wait to see how Skate Raleigh uses this identity kit to make skating—and all of its benefits—available to enthusiasts.
Event Photography Credits
Special thanks to the photographers who documented this journey.
Chris Facey, Cocoa Butter Shutter
Emily Bennett, Emily Bennett Creative
Willa Stein, Willa Stein Photography
Garrett Poulous, Garrett Poulous Productions
Bryan Regan, Bryan Reagan Photography
Can’t get enough Skate Raleigh? Check out our posts below to learn more about the projects mentioned in this case study.
