The Many Faces of the Gearflake

By Kaitlyn Chornoby

Since 2015, the FIRST organization has sought to enhance each year’s game with a unique theme, often sponsored by a strategic partner or global objective. As these themes set the stage for the creative terminology and atmosphere at competitions, it also presents the media subteam of the Foley Freeze with a unique challenge.

While the majority of the Foley Freeze brainstorms climbing and shooting mechanisms during kickoff, the media subteam gathers to brainstorm not only a themed look for their logo – the half-and-half Gearflake – but also a cohesive special branding strategy that does not stray too far from the established standards.

For this year’s Star Wars concept, media students discussed ways to incorporate it into icon concepts, potential background ideas, and even animation into video projects. Prototype designs were built in Photoshop and Illustrator to unite the exclusive brands. Students presented potential designs ranging from the Gearflake glowing like lightsabers, a ‘BB8’ inspired Gearflake Bot, and a Foley Freeze Snowtrooper. After collecting input from fellow team members, the media subteam decided which concepts to pursue for a variety of mediums, including social media icons, robot branding, and button design.

“Star Wars is a is a recognizable theme, and there are quite a lot of things to draw from the brand,” said Liam Bell. “Since we are designing for robotics, I had the idea to have two lightsabers in competition, and enhanced my design after I got some constructive criticism.”

While these yearly themes never replace the original chill of the Foley Freeze branding, each year’s game presents a new opportunity to develop creative ideas and refresh the brand to avoid stagnance. It also helps establish the skill of adapting and incorporating existing elements while maintaining a consistent, recognizable brand.

“I enjoy [the theme integration] because it feels like we are more involved with the game,” says subteam assistant lead Colin Graettinger. “It’s like a fresh opportunity to make something new, and come up with ideas that you’ve never had to think of before.”