Cargo Bike Artwork

Last spring my wife and I bought a dutch-style cargo bike for transporting our two little ones. It’s truly the best — the perfect vehicle for daycare runs, playgrounds, and more.

This week, we added some custom vinyl artwork to the front bucket of our bike, matching the design of our garage mural from four years ago. If you look closely, you can even see four small bikes representing our family of four.

I'm always in awe of digital illustration talent. With a few simple strokes, these folks bring life, character and personality to everything they touch. This kind of creative work isn't really something that's in my skillset — by contrast, all I do is draw rectangles!

As it happens, I’m working with an illustrator on another project right now, and her designs have done a lot to bring humanity and energy to the work.

It seems obvious that these personal, more human flourishes will stand out even more in an age of AI-driven product design, but the realist in me knows that many teams will skip past them in the rush to delivery.

My heartfelt thanks to Cam Hoff and Chris Pecora of Slugger Studio and Brennan Plumb of BetaCuts. I think we now have one of the most recognizable bikes in Calgary. If you see us on the bike paths, be sure to say hello!

PS. I'm still working on part three to wrap-up the UX & Product series. I've got a rough outline planned, but the last few weeks have been super busy with a complex client engagement, UX Camp prep, and a surprise project that I cannot wait to share. 😇