We are proud to have been given the opportunity to redesign the identity of our favorite climbing gym, Mission Cliffs in San Francisco. Housed in a former foundry, the gym has an urban, industrial feel: concrete floors, steel I-beams, and a massive crane hook with the hand painted legend “20 tons of capacity.”
We thought the identity should feel empathetic with the space and so relied on simple, constructed forms. (The MC monogram is the kind of no-nonsense trademark that could be stamped out of metal, or stenciled on a machine.) The hexagonal silhouette is a reference to the bolts that are used in both indoor and some outdoor climbing to fasten anchors to the wall; the arrow both reinforces the hexagon and suggests the idea of up!
Pictured with the final design is our second inking of the monogram which is around 5 3/4 inches wide.