504 - Design for Screen - Oslo Bike Scheme

New Logo and Identity for Oslo Bysykkel by Heydays
"Smile, you are on a City Bike"

City bikes are a cheap and convenient way to get from A to B in the city. Most people use this as a supplement to their own bike, as an alternative to public transport, or just because it’s a fun way to discover Oslo.

If you have a valid subscription, you can use the bike as much as you want during the opening hours. The city bikes are available as long as there’s no ice on the ground, normally from April to late November. The stations open at 6 am and close at midnight. You can use the bike for up to three hours before you have to return it to a station.

First launched in 2003, Oslo Bysykkel (Oslo City Bikes) is a bike sharing system in Olso, Norway, originally implemented by Clear Channel Norway AS with around 1,000 bikes in 100 stations. This month, the system is being completely relaunched with Urban Infrastructure Partner managing it on behalf of Clear Channel, based on technology from ShareBike, and new bikes designed by Frost Produkt. The system will expand to 3,000 bicycles and 300 stations, with a third of them being placed between “Ring 2” and “Ring 3” of the city — “Ring 1” being the main city area. The new identity for Oslo Bysykkel has been designed by local firm Heydays.

"Our solution is centred around the simple abstraction of a bike/face. A simple identity that acts both static on the bikes but also dynamically in the app or on the racks. A friendly character that guides you through the service, with a bit of a personality. It tells you if something is wrong, looks for new bikers when idling on the rack or wishes you a good day after ending your city bike ride." 

The new logo will turn that frown on your face upside down with an abstract bike that doubles as a face with a surprising amount of personality. 

As a representation of a bike, the four elements in the logo are as simple as you could push it before being completely useless and as the representation of a face, the handle bar turns into a raised eyebrow and the eyes are big and excited. In either interpretation, the logo is fun, simple, and effective; and the animation is what increases the interactivity, inferring more of a feeling to partner with the experience for users - drawing them back again.

Not only is there a nice app interface to go with the scheme, it also has the aesthetically compatible kiosk at the bike points which explain how to use the scheme and allowing you to purchase a rental there and then aswell! 

Oslo Byskykkel App

I looked into the app and how it differs over in Oslo to the other schemes I have already looked at. The basics of the app stay the same whilst it does offer a much more modern and simplistic vectorised style which does the job very efficiently and clearly for users whilst still feeling very aesthetically pleasing and current.

The interface appears very consistent and bold, with that more playful touch with the animations and approachability giving more of an experience to the whole scheme - something I can be greatly inspired by!

Automatically keeps track of your nearest stations whilst you're on your bike allowing you to make adjustments to your routes based on live info.

A different approach allowing you to view and keep track of your past trips and information - can give reference to time slots and thus pricing.

The same map concept is applied allowing you to find your nearest bike stations also including its live info on spaces and availability. 

It includes an in-app messaging section where you can get in touch with maintenance teams quickly to receive help and feedback, aswell as info on the condition of bikes e.g. flat tires, etc - a very useful feature to include!