Welcome to the Brand Manual for Hydra. It introduces our identity and explains the guiding principles for using the elements of our brand. The way we look, sound, and behave is a reflection of who we are. The Hydra brand identity is more than a logo or a font, it is a rich system that works to let our business shine with personality and approachability.

Please note, this Brand Manual is best viewed on a desktop screen. 

Created by Metcon Creative for Hydra.
Copyright Hydra 2021.

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To help thousands of people live healthy lives.

Our Mission

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Pursue Excellence

Strive to be your best. Be the coach who nothing gets by movement-wise. Be the most entertaining in the room, and be the person anyone can learn from. Excellence is measure in lives affected.

Be Empowering

Leave people better than when they came. Cultivate a culture where employees love what they do, and empower them to be their own vision of excellence. Everyone, members, coaches and staff should feel a sense of worth and belonging at Hydra.

Be Passionate

This can be a throwaway cliche, but at Hydra, it’s for real. Be passionate about what lights your fire, and feel free to burn brightly.

Serve People First

Adopt a members-first mentality, and go above and beyond for them regularly. Delight people daily. Serve with your knowledge too. If you know something, share it. And if you can correct someone, do it humbly. Confidence and sharing is service.

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About Fitness

Fitness makes you carry yourself differently

Training at Hydra means that you’re on the path to being very good at a lot of different things. Fitness looks different for every person. For some it’s an escape, for some it’s about chasing achievements. But for all, the goal is to get better at life. We believe in changing not just how people look, but how they carry themselves. Rather than notice the decrease in numbers on the scale, we want people to celebrate the increase in confidence our members have.

About Coaching

The role of the coach is to make people feel good

We love movement, and we enjoy geeking out on the science of fitness. But as coaches, we are also the entertainer in the room, and people come here for more than just a workout. We are a cheerleader first, and a technique stickler second. We can be a bit lenient with technique, as long as we are on point with being a presence in the gym. And as long as we made people a little bit better today and they feel great, our job is done.

About Nutrition

Nutrition should be simple and individual

Eat for the life you want to live. Nutrition should be very very simple. A great guide for most of our people is to eat 80% wholefoods and 20% soulfoods. We believe in keeping a good balance between proteins, carbs and fats. Some clients want to achieve a bigger goal, and with them we can dig deep and go all-in on nutrition. But our overarching philosophy is to enjoy life and not to be super strict.

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Personas help us design our work for a specific somebody, rather than a generic everybody.

Nick

Our Ideal Client

Goals

Feel strong and athletic
Look strong and athletic
Make friends

Attention

Wife, sports and friends

Qualities

Friendly, hard working, loyal

Nick in a paragraph:

Nick is the kind of guy everyone loves having in the gym. Nick is talkative and loves to joke around, but without being obnoxious. He’s the guy who will be there at the Friday night workout and take it seriously and push himself but is still easygoing enough to go for a pizza and beer afterward. No matter what Friday night brings, he’s there on Saturday morning, because as much as he loves training, he loves hanging out with people more.

Nick is an all-around great guy, but he can come off as a bit overconfident at first. This could be a bit of insecurity on his part because it’s been a few years since he peaked in his athletic endeavors. Once he sees that he can feel like an athlete without having to perform like one at Hydra, he’ll feel right at home, and his loyal disposition will make him a valuable member.

What does he do?

Is married with no kids

Wakes up early and works as an architect

Eats dinner nightly with his wife

Plays soccer one night a week

An active member in Stratford Rotary club

Enjoys watching sports and Netflix with his wife

Works out on Friday and goes for pizza and beers after

Shows up to the gym no matter what on Saturdays

Enjoys chatting with people

Trains 4 to 5 times a week

Listens to Podcasts

Stays up-to-date with news and current events

Loves reading sports news

Uses Instagram, posting on his feed every few weeks but in his Stories regularly

Follows sports and athletes

Enjoys having barbecues with family and friends

Vacations two or three times a year

Reads books, preferring fiction and loves series like Harry Potter

Doesn’t waste time on Internet rabbit holes

What's his mindset?

Fitness makes me feel like my old competitive self in a way

I give each part of my life 100%

I enjoy my work and I’m good at it

I enjoy talking to people and I’m good at it

There’s a time for everything

I’m going to be good at this, especially if I really apply myself

A little hesitant, because he’s always worked out, but not like this

Is ready to give training 100% and feels himself falling in love with it

Manages stress pretty well

Good job good and his relationships are very stable

Reads books, preferring fiction and loves series like Harry Potter

Doesn’t waste time on Internet rabbit holes

Pain Points

Wants to fit in and to be accepted

Believes he has to become “good enough” to be accepted

Can be insecure, which sometimes comes off as overconfidence

Confident in his body but wants more

Doesn’t feel like his former fit self

Opportunities

Send hotel-specific workout routines for vacations and work trips.

Remind him of what being fit felt like, and speak to that feeling rather than past athletic performance metrics, meaning that we can show him that he can FEEL like he used to, without needing to PERFORM like he used to.

Make him feel part of the group by celebrating his achievements publically.

Create social events that he would join in on, and help him be a part of the culture.

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Our brand at a glance

Our logo is a distinct mark that identifies our company. 

The logo is to be used only in the brand colors, which are listed below. Combinations of the brand colors are acceptable, as long as contrast and clarity are paid attention to.

The logo can be used as a lockup with the icon and HYDRA logotype, separated, and with the Pursue Better tagline as shown here.

In some rare cases, like charity affiliations or special holidays, other colors may be used for the logo, however, these must be approved by the owner beforehand.

Clearspace

Great logos need room to breathe. To make sure that the logo maintains its integrity, leave it uncrowded.

The blue box indicates the minimum space required around the logo at all sizes. To measure the minimum, take the height of the 'D', and apply it to all sides.

Not observing this guide will result in a crowded logo and a missed opportunity to show professionalism and brand power.

Don't do this

To protect the logo, you have to keep it the same almost all of the time. These are some examples of what not to do.

1. Don't use mixed or non-brand colors
2. Don't use drop shadows
3. Don't skew the logo out of proportion
4. Don't put anything inside the clearspace

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How to use our colors

Our colors are drawn from the ocean, the sun and the earth.

These colours, as well as white make up the main colour palette for the brand.

They can be used in their full strength or in shades, but any design should be kept to these colours to keep the brand consistent.

Always aim for maximum readability of fonts and layouts when choosing colors.

Midnight Black

#000000

Deep Navy

#001e34

Hydra Gold

#9b8e6c

Slate

#bcbdc1

White

#ffffff

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Chosen to bring clarity to our voice

Fonts are really powerful. They add personality, they can make words appear like they’re SHOUTING or whispering.

When you speak to a person, you don’t just hear the words. You hear the tone, the volume and speed of their word as they are spoken. Those are the things that fonts communicate.

Our fonts are:

Headings - Industry Inc

Culture Kit - Industry Inc and its Alternates

Body Copy - Calibre Regular

Use the fonts for the uses listed here, and always keep in mind that the more space the words have to breathe, the better their message is received.

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This kit includes badges and icons unique to Hydra, designed to resonate and connect with our ideal client.

Use these files when creating merchandise like shirts, and put them into social media posts or emails to add a touch of Hydra brand personality.

Note, these must only be used in the approved brand colors.

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There are various applications of the brand in print. From Contracts to Letterheads and Greeting Cards, we use every opportunity to improve the brand experience.

Download the full set of Stationery below, and log in to Canva for editable templates of the Contract and Welcome Letters.

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There are 3 key elements to our client journey, which we call The Pursuit of Better: The Movements, The Effort, The Result. 

We tell our stories the same way, using this structure to show what a Hydra workout is like. 

This template is set up in Canva, and is to be used in Instagram stories, and whenever doing layouts using a single person as the subject.

Created by Metcon Creative for Hydra.
Copyright Hydra 2021.