Trek Bicycles will debut its latest ‘First Light’ custom color scheme during the Olympic Games.
Trek will seat more than 50 elite cyclists on top of a loud, electric design that pays homage to the Japanese hosts of the long-awaited 2021 Olympics. The new color scheme, dropping in just a few weeks, is bright and in-your-face, featuring a gradient that starts with a deep red, and then transitions through pink, gold, and blue.
The graphic wends its way up the bike, mimicking the hues of the sunrise emerging in the east. A purple-tinted Trek logo over the top brings it all together.
The design has been in the works since 2019 in anticipation of the original 2020 Olympic dates. Of course, Trek’s unveiling of First Light, like the Games, was postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trek ‘First Light’ Takes Flight
The First Light design is credited to Trek’s Senior Product Graphic Designer Micah Moran. Moran has spent the last year and a half dialing in his vision for the bikes that Trek hopes will see ample podium time when the Olympic games kick off this weekend.
Moran said he traveled to Japan in late 2019 to find inspiration for the project. But the design really came together for him as he stared out of the window on his return flight home.
“Japan is the land where the sun originates; the name means ‘the sun’s origin,'” Moran said. “These connotations that come from the meaning of the word Japan … each new day begins there, and here I was in a new day and seeing those colors, and that really was the moment it kind of clicked.”
But, considering the sheer number of countries and competitors headed to Japan and the wide variety of kits they will bring to the party, he said it was important to create something universal — and inclusive, too.
“I wanted something that was colorful enough to maybe not match, but match sometimes, and blend into all of the jerseys, all of the different colors, to not feel like it was too tailored to one thing or another,” he said. “Hopefully, ultimately, that’s what you see with the blending of all these colors [together].”
