by Joel Getty
TriElement Triathlon Lifestyle Design for Triathlete
I created this TriElement Triathlon design almost by accident when I was just doodling in CorelDraw. I was trying to create a design that took into account the three events of triathlon, but I was tired of the traditional triangle logos and stickmen. I started playing with the idea of a chemical symbol like a carbon ring, then I started thinking about elements. This reminded me of my favorite movie of all time “The Fifth Element” in which the elements of earth, wind, water, fire, combine to create the fifth element Love. All spoilers aside, go and watch the movie, a sci-fi classic.
All that random thought brought me to the three elements of a triathlon: Swim- Easily represented by the Water element. Bike- A little of a stretch to get Wind, but since much of the bike leg of a triathlon is about Aerodynamics, I felt like this was acceptable. Run- The last leg of the triathlon represented in this design by Earth, because running is the most basic of the elements.
Since a triathlon only has three events I left it at that, but I could have included the Fire, which is your heart, but then having four elements would have defeated the purpose and fire is a little abstract anyway. Either way, I’m always looking to tweak the design, maybe add Nutrition and the Transitions, but I liked the original design in its simplicity.
Lastly I didn’t want people to just look at the design and go “huh”, so I added the upside down and backwards Triathlon with the Swim, Bike, and Run, underneath the other elements as if mirrored. The mirror is the true spirit of the design and the effect is quite cool and works on more than one level. I also found that when looking at other Triathlon T-shirt designs, most were campy and either simple text or obvious rippoffs of simple stickmen. So I created the TriElement Triathlon design to be more of a lifestyle item that you could where to a party and people would say “Cool, I get it, that’s really sweet,” instead of just, “Oh, you’re a triathlete, thanks for letting me know.”
The TriElement Triathlon Design is available for purchase on a number of products including T-shirts, mugs, posters, and more. Please take your time to browse all of my designs at the Triathlete T-shirts Triathlon Store.
Copyright 2009 Cataclysm Sports LLC
Tags: gifts, T-shirts, Triathlete, Triathlon