Orangetheory

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In 2010, Orangetheory created a new fitness phenomenon by combining community and coaching with science and technology. Since then, the franchise network has expanded to over 1,500 studios, offering heart rate based workouts to thousands of members around the world.

But the fitness industry changes fast. New boutique offers have saturated the market. New technologies help people understand their body better, and new wellness trends promise more ways to get fit quick. Despite a loyal following, and a powerful product, Orangetheory was finding it increasingly difficult to tell its story. To continue to grow, Orangetheory turned to DesignStudio to help clearly express itself, energize its network and regain its spark.

In the zone

The Orangetheory workout was created to increase metabolic rate and burn more fat. But after spending time with dozens of members, coaches, and employees, we saw the magic of Orangetheory was in helping all fitness levels feel better, for longer. So we refocused the brand’s positioning: Orangetheory is the antidote to today’s expensive, exclusive and exhausting fitness landscape — a brand designed to energize everyone.

Every part of the Orangetheory experience — from the app, to studios, workouts, special events, and merchandise — needed to reflect this new positioning. We started by defining four Experience Pillars — Essentials, Guidance, Self-Discovery, and Empowerment — so all franchisees could clearly understand the experience we wanted to create.

The Orangetheory brand identity needed to represent and amplify these Pillars. We began with a system of cards, connected by an embedded spark of energy. These cards allow the brand to present the essentials, guide members on their journey, and showcase insight and inspiration.

Toolkit of energy

The Orangetheory symbol was used to inspire key assets and create a unified look and feel. We combined the symbol’s curves with sparks of energy to build bespoke frames used to house community content. A new type system and new iconography also reflect the icon’s curves, and brings a warmth and approachability to the system.

Base, Push, All Out

We amplified Orangetheory’s iconic orange for a digital world, adding to it new secondary colors and an extended UI palette. We introduced energized textures created from imagery of people working out, mirroring the rhythms of Orangetheory’s paces; Base, Push and All Out. These additional elements provide new distinctive assets and create space for the orange to shine bright.

Inspired by motion

To bring dynamism, energy and movement to the identity, we built new motion principles. We were inspired by the push we saw members give as they powered through their final reps. Showing up in studio display boards and digital products, these motion principles let Orangetheory reflect the feelings of satisfaction in the small interactions across the brand experience.

From the heart

Unlike the machismo tones or cookie cutter motivation of other fitness brands, we wanted to create a brand voice that better reflected how Orangetheory’s coaches and members hype each other up. Full of heart, with a twist on the expected, the brand voice could now uniquely guide and empower. We also captured the voices of members and coaches in handwritten annotations that reflect the tips and verbal high fives written on the walls in studios across the world.

Bringing all the elements together, the system ensured we could express the Pillars across every part of the user journey, from stats to stories, buttons to billboards. But it also needed to energize Orangetheory teams around the world who would use it every day. With a broad range of tools, different franchisee teams now have the freedom to build and create to best communicate with their local community.

“DS became like an extension of our team and what they helped us deliver is so much more than a brand redesign; it’s a company-wide operating system for innovation and renewed focus for delivering an even more energizing fitness experience to millions.”

DAVID CHRISWICK
VP BRAND & COMMUNICATIONS, ORANGETHEORY