School of Racing Graphics offers award winning graphic design services to sporting organisations, institutions, corporations, schools, and other corporate entities. School of Racing Graphics is a full service graphic design and branding agency that specialises in logo creation and concept creation for the automotive, aerospace and racing industries. They have been working with the racing industry since attending the first ever National Auto Racing exhibition held in Detroit in 1977. The firm now enjoys a strong clientele base which they are extremely proud of. School of Racing Graphics prides itself on its ability to meet the demands of the various different sectors of the automotive industry whilst developing a strong networking approach with all its clients.
Many of the logos School of Racing Graphics creates have a long running tradition of use by motor sport teams and the design has consistently proven itself popular among the various concerned parties. The most common logos created by the company include the emblem used by BMW and MINI. BMW’s emblem is stylistically similar to the current BMW logo but incorporates the font style of the house into the design. The MINI logo is designed in the same manner as the current BMW logo, but the colour scheme is different to the standard BMW colours. Both companies also utilise the school’s trademark font, the School of Racing Gothic.
The School of Racing was established in reaction to the deficiencies of the competing automotive companies at the time which resulted in the production of cheap, low quality racing cars. The company was founded by Bill Grepper, having previously worked with Bob Harries, owner of Bob’s Gas Station and Gas Dash, in establishing the design company that would become Bendix. Bill and Bob had worked together previously in establishing an early style racing car company called Bendix. Both companies had failed to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the production of lower cost engines for racing automobiles.
Bill and Bob founded the School of Racing with the intention of capitalising on the burgeoning automobile industry by creating a racing design concept that would help create a unique image for BMW and MINI. The first cars that were drawn using the concept included the BMW Drapeau and the MINI Drapeau. The original idea for the logo design was to have the letters of the name ‘School of Racing’ spelt out on the side of each car. This was not followed however, and the design eventually became a black and white version.
Eventually the company moved into creating full color designs for BMW and MINI. The fonts used were specially created by Bill Grepper, who specialized in creating the company’s lettering and graphic designs. The original black and white sketches were redone in black and white using a variety of fonts. It was not until later when the company released a series of full color brochures that these changes were made.
When the company first launched its racing graphics collection it was popular with racing car lovers. They were soon followed by hardcore car enthusiasts who were looking for something more stylish than the drab reds and blacks that had been used so far. This however, was just the beginning, as soon after this the company received requests from real car enthusiasts who wanted the company to make a range of racing car posters. These posters featured not only the cars, but also the teams and drivers.
The company continued to progress with its graphics work, releasing an increasing number of designs. The artists who worked with the firm soon began to receive requests from various music groups requesting posters with their music titles on them. Soon there were requests from TV and film companies too! As well as producing BMW and MINI graphics, the company also produced images for such high profile people as Sir Michael Caine, James Bond and even Queen Elizabeth II.
Sadly for all of us interested fans, there was to be no more production of BMW and MINI graphics. However, the company did continue to produce limited edition posters for select customers. As well as being incredibly impressive pieces of sporting memorabilia, these posters also looked really nice framed or hanging on the wall. If you own any Bentleys or Masersouls, especially the latter, then your best option might be to go and get a School of Racing graphics designed by a fan, as you’ll never again be disappointed!