Blazing Saddles

Lest we forget good design isn't just reserved for permanent-sale proprietors, here's how a rental company packaged the spirit of adventure.

Blazing Saddles, a Seattle-based bicycle rental company that mostly relies on the tourist trade, hired The Retail Group Inc., Seattle, to design a 1200-square-foot prototype bike rental store that would establish its brand image and connote a safe, yet exhilarating experience.

Designers say visual interest is created in the way the high-tech bicycles are punctuated with vintage signage. Signs reminiscent of the 40s and 50s lead customers through “Seattle's Five Best Rides.” Also, customers cannot leave the store without coming face to face with the helmet wall. Signage reminds road-hungry peddlers to don the proper protection.

Client Design: Blaze Holdings Inc., Seattle — Don Shipman, founder; David Midgley, chairman and ceo; Kent Coykendall, president and coo

Design: The Retail Group Inc., Seattle — J'Amy Owens, president; Christopher Gunter, ceo; Ernie Gilbert, project manager; Greg Arhart and Ashley Bogle, creative directors; Bradley Ritner and Tom Costantini, store planners; Eunice Chan, graphic designer

General Contractor: Rafn Co., Bellevue, Wash.

Suppliers: Wy-East, Seattle (base graphics); SignTech, Mountlake Terrace, Wash. (exterior signage); ThumbPrint, Seattle (price sheets); Westock, Seattle (stock photography); Jim Lopresti Co., Seattle (base fixtures); Reliance Manufacturing, Woodinville, Wash. (bicycle hangers); Modern Manufacturing, Miami (prop set); Art-Phyl Creations, Hialeah, Fla. (hat displays)

Photographs: Craig Harrold, Craig Harrold Photography, Seattle