As Whistler Crankworx 2024 draws to a close, we’re delighted to have supported the town’s iconic event with our awards for another year.
The ten day festival welcomed the world’s best mountain bike athletes and thousands of fans to celebrate an exciting display of action across multiple disciplines - from thrilling downhill racing to mind blowing big air jumps and tricks.
Watson Design was commissioned to craft eight different awards for the grand finale of the Crankworx World Tour, including the prestigious King and Queen of Crankworx trophies awarded to the athletes with the most points racked up across all of the events.
We always strive to make our custom awards unique and striking. Having worked with Crankworx for previous events, we had an agreed design from last year to base the awards on, but included new details to enhance the aesthetic and make the trophies truly distinct for the 2024 winners.
With a team full of bike fanatics, our multi-talented designers and weekend shredders were given the chance to add their influence on the awards and contribute to the festival. As an awards business based in Squamish, BC, it’s amazing to get involved with world-class sporting events on our doorstep.
Maintaining a similar approach to last year’s King and Queen of Crankworx awards and aligning with the monarchy theme, we created scepters that could be proudly raised on the podium by the winners. Employing a mixed material approach, the awards combined red oak wood with aluminum and included 3D printing and vinyl stickers to achieve exquisite finishing touches.
Chrome coating to the bar complimented by silver topo lines helped with adding dazzling effect. At the top of the scepters we applied more chrome coating to the aluminum but contrasted this with black powder coated aluminum on the inner side of the material to provide a sleek platform for a 3D printed globe and crown to sit upon.
The other awards we were commissioned to create all followed the same design structure and again featured red oak wood with aluminum. This time the oak was shaped into a rectangular block and included a 3D printed map of Whistler intricately pocketed into the wood to give a clean finish and add bespoke details.
We attached the aluminum to the oak at the top and bottom to enable it to bridge over the front side. Here we included a window cut out to the middle of the metal to reveal the map displayed in the wood underneath. Colored anodizing to the aluminum and UV flatbed prints allowed us to add differentiating elements for each category and add personalization and branding details.
Crankworx Whistler is a major event for communities within the Sea to Sky corridor. It’s a fantastic celebration of mountain biking and the incredible landscape we’re lucky enough to call home. We’re proud to support the festival through our custom designs and loved seeing the final creations for 2024 in the hands of the winners.
Check out our Instagram reel to see the awards brought to life.