I’m closing a file that’s been open for more than three decades. The red and white thing, a paint scheme arrived at almost by accident when I had to match bicycles I was making for my racing team – match them to clothing supplied to us by Le Coq Sportif – a pattern that has had more tonal variations, ink color revisions, decal size and placement combinations, but has remained essentially red and white since 1982, is now part of my past.
I looked at what I had and considered the project done. It was perfect and mature. Mature in the sense that I could not imagining changing another detail and still feel content, or that I could go forward with a finer design. The current version has remained unchanged since 2009 and I had nothing left I wanted to give to it.
So what could be next? In the time it takes to hit ctrl alt del, my intention became clear. I wanted a wholesale departure from my past so that I could cross a line on one day and step into my future on the next. There was only one place I would trust for such a leap: House Industries.
I contacted Rich Roat, expressed a desire for a complete makeover of my identity program, and asked if he and his staff would guide me. The hash marks were simple: bury the red and white thing, lose as many connections to the “look” that I had worked with and around all these years, and emerge with something uniquely House Industries For Richard Sachs.
After some twenty months, House and I are walking up to that line and getting ready to cross it together. Rich, Bondé, Andy, and Ken have completed the re-skin. The Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team will start the season this week and debut the creations that House Industries has designed. Graphics. Fonts. Colors. Racing kits. Accessories. Maybe even stickers. Well, maybe not stickers.
It was 1982 when I began my racing sponsorship program, and the red and white thing came from that. I’ve managed teams every season since. That won’t change, but everything else you see will.
