BACKGROUND

Balata golf balls are made from a hard, resilient sap-like substance from the South American Balata tree. The balata covering lends a softer feel to golf balls as compared to synthetic balls.
They provide supreme control, and are used by better players for their feel and workability. Tony Marino, a passionate businessman, fashion designer, and golfer, meets me, a passionate
golfer and branding designer.

CHALLENGE

The golf market is full of the next greatest club, equipment, must haves, swing fixes – yet the fashion portion is seemingly relegated to a secondary position. So, launching a new golf
brand is an undertaking for a few hearty souls at best. Balata Golf aimed to change perception by making items which utilizes technical materials but are fashioned using classic, hand-made
garment techniques. Numerous well funded and significant companies such as Nike, Callaway, Adidas, Cutter & Buck and others provided plenty of competition, yet, were behind in this
unique method of equipment and apparel production to date.

SOLUTION

The Balata Golf identity was inspired by the letter ‘b’ standing for balata and the typographical counter shape within it is ball-like. The flattened ellipse reinforced a soft look, allowing a
natural position for the word balata to reside within. With the logo in place, the renowned and distinguished ocean side country club, Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California was selected
for the initial brand photo shoot. Subsequently, all corporate items were produced at the highest level- using lush duotone images, custom die cuts, gloss and dull-spot varnishes for the
collateral, hangtags and product guides. Apparel labeling, cast buttons, zipper pulls, with limited edition garments was created for selected pros. In addition, a custom private label co-branding
program was developed for select country clubs.

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