- New Simola Hillclimb logo pays homage to the event’s history in a contemporary way, emphasizing a love for speed, good competition and heritage
- Exciting range of merchandise being created with the new logo designs, including T-shirts and caps, which will be sold at the event
- 15th edition of SA’s premier motoring and motorsport lifestyle event takes place in Knysna from 1 to 4 May 2025
The Simola Hillclimb will reach a major milestone in 2025 when the 15th edition of this now iconic event will be held in Knysna from 1 to 4 May. To mark this special occasion, and promote what is likely to be the biggest and most spectacular edition yet, the Simola Hillclimb is launching a contemporary new logo and identity that elevates it to even greater heights, and sets an exciting tone for the years to come.
First held in 2009, the Simola Hillclimb started from humble beginnings and has rapidly grown and evolved each year to become South Africa’s premier motoring and motorsport lifestyle event. Thanks to its superb location in the scenic Garden Route town of Knysna, the exceptional organisation and the extremely high calibre of cars – from iconic golden oldies to outrageously powerful and fast road and race cars, including hillclimb monsters purpose-built for this event – the Simola Hillclimb is now considered amongst the top hillclimb events in the world.
This top-level status has attracted star drivers from the world of Formula 1, World Rally Championship and World Rallycross, along with world-renowned celebrities and Springbok rugby champions. Additionally, class-winning competitors from the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb have competed at this event, and many more high-profile drivers have expressed keen interest in taking on the short but intense and challenging 1.9km Simola Hill – and embracing the intimate and exhilarating atmosphere that this peerless event produces each year.
“It’s remarkable to think where the Simola Hillclimb started in 2009 as a simple idea and vision that I shared with Chick Ramsay and Francis Cusens to bring visitors to Knysna post the 2008 financial crisis, compared to where it is today,” says Ian Shrosbree, co-founder and MD of the Knysna Speed Festival, which owns the Simola Hillclimb. “The response to the first edition was fantastic, which led us to decide to create something unique on the South African motorsport calendar which then expanded rapidly each year to become the must-attend event for competitors and spectators alike, both from South Africa and around the world.
“Reaching the 15th edition next year is a huge milestone, and we had no idea that this event would grow to this level of support, stature and popularity, locally and overseas,” Shrosbree says. “Throughout this journey, we have continually evolved the Simola Hillclimb each year to keep it exciting and entertaining for the drivers and the fans alike, including our fast-growing global audience thanks to our full livestream coverage. We are now taking the next big step in the evolution of the event by launching a new Simola Hillclimb logo that embodies its heritage and spirit, while looking to the future with a distinctive design that is modern and gives this special event a bolder, more unique personality.”
The original logo for the Knysna Simola Hillclimb was a copy of a classic car cornering at speed from the 1931 South African Grand Prix programme. Using this as the logo for the inaugural event in 2009 was inspired by Shrosbree’s event programme from the Goodwood Festival of Speed that he attended a decade earlier. The logo was then modernised for the third event and has remained the same for the past 13 years.
“Although this image has become synonymous with the Simola Hillclimb, it was never designed as a logo, and was in fact limited in how and where we could use it,” Shrosbree says. “The new Simola Hillclimb logo broadens both the appeal and versatility of the artwork, from distinctive branding opportunities to creating sought-after merchandise, and it’s an exciting new era for the Simola Hillclimb, starting with the 15th edition next year.”
Design inspiration, concept and execution
The Simola Hillclimb team, including event designer Dominic Morel, worked closely with Kern Petersen and his exceptional team at The Pro Shop Corporate in developing the new logo, along with the branding and merchandise that will follow. With years of experience in creating and producing promotional branding and corporate gear, including working for 15 of South Africa’s leading automotive brands, The Pro Shop Corporate set up a merchandise store for Volkswagen at the 2024 Simola Hillclimb. This was a big hit and led to conversations with Shrosbree and Emma Ross, the event’s operations manager.
“The Volkswagen merch store at the hillclimb created a stir and was very popular, so Ian and Emma came to discuss their ideas about branding and merchandise, which is important for people attending festivals and events like this who want to buy official merch,” Petersen says. “We then got onto discussing the event logo. Although there’s always an emotional attachment to a logo, the existing Simola Hillclimb artwork was really just an image, and from a merchandising perspective it’s very difficult to work with.
“We suggested a complete rethink of the logo and branding opportunities, making it more distinctive, modern and easier to use across multiple platforms, and this is what we have done in collaboration with the Simola Hillclimb team,” Petersen says.
Graphic designer Kayley Malherbe was tasked with developing the new logo, drawing inspiration from and paying homage to the Simola Hillclimb’s proud heritage while curating a design that brings the event’s identity into its own contemporary epoch.
“We based the concept for the new logo off three main elements: a love for speed, good competition, and heritage,” she says. “We opted for something fresh for Simola Hillclimb while still maintaining the essential elements from the original graphic, most importantly the lines that denote speed and the recognizability of the vintage car. It was not a case of scrap the old design entirely, but rather pay homage in a contemporary way.
“Following in the footsteps of brands worldwide, we foresaw an opportunity to transition from something 3D, pictorial, shaded and very intricate towards a logo that reflects a design shift driven by technology and aesthetics, but most importantly clarity and adaptability,” Malherbe explains.
“Many brands across the motor industry have transitioned from 3D to 2D logos, even F1 and Nascar, but this trend spans all industries and includes iconic brands such as Gucci, Calvin Klein and Google,” Malherbe says. “The simpler 2D design ensures that whether you are viewing the refreshed identity on a digital platform or in print format, the Simola Hillclimb will be clear, bold and digestible. We also wanted to preserve the look and feel of the Simola Hillclimb typeface, which you can see in the new logo, as this has become an integral part of the event’s identity.”
Versatility was also essential for the new logo design, Petersen says: “With flat 2D, simplified, modern and timeless logos, you can really do so much with them. It’s not only going to be used in its solitary format, as we’ll use a step and repeat which starts forming a pattern as opposed to just a logo. This creates a nice aesthetic design on branding and T-shirts.
“After finalising the new official Simola Hillclimb logo, we then began developing other contemporary designs with the logo incorporating things like chequered flags and laurel wreaths that will look fantastic on a T-shirt or cap. So the merchandise offerings will have the primary logo products, and then there will be other variations that build on this design,” Petersen says.
Shrosbree concludes: “This is a very exciting new chapter for the Simola Hillclimb. We look forward to rolling out the new logo, branding and gear in the build-up to next year’s event, and having the merch readily available to our competitors and enthusiastic spectators throughout the hillclimb weekend.”
The 15th edition of the Simola Hillclimb takes place from 1 to 4 May 2025.
More information is available on the Simola Hillclimb website: www.simolahillclimb.com
