Boundless Adventures :: Naming, Branding, Web Design, Marketing Assets

When we first met Lorrie and Brian there was no park, no land, and no name. They'd already helped launch someone else's adventure park and wanted to build their own: more ziplines, better staff, courses that could challenge a serious climber without scaring off a beginner.

The two of them tried to describe what a park like this feels like, but that's like trying to understand skydiving by reading a book. So they took us to one, and our first real meeting happened in the trees, harnesses on, somewhere between a wobbling log bridge and a zipline platform. We fell for the concept before our feet were back on the ground.

A Name That's Not Afraid of Heights

Naming came first. The industry default is gimmicky, all puns and cartoon monkeys, and it sells adrenaline. What Lorrie and Brian were offering had more to do with building confidence and skill, so we went looking for a name that felt weightless and aspirational at the same time. We landed on Boundless. Our notes from the time describe it as "an encouraging and aspirational name, bringing to mind freedom." Brian sat with it for a while and felt it was missing something, a landing spot, some hint of what actually happens there. He added the word Adventures. The final name is a true collaboration, our strategy plus his instinct, and it's better for it.

Clipped In

For the logo we wanted the type to feel tall, like the trees the brand lives in. Setting the name in a condensed typeface lets the letters stretch upward, with the outer letterforms rising at the left and right edges the way a treeline does. We paired the wordmark with a carabiner icon, the small piece of hardware every climber clips on before leaving the ground. It supports the type-based logo, and over the years it has become the brand's workhorse on its own, embroidered on caps, enameled on camp mugs, printed across the merch table.

The Long Climb

Once the identity was set we designed and built the first website. Then we rebuilt it, and rebuilt it again, because the company kept outgrowing it. What began as a single unopened park in Purchase, New York became three locations across New York, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. Over nearly a decade we supported all three launches along with everything that filled the parks: night climbs, summer camps, birthday parties, corporate team building, school trips, plus the climb passes, hang tags, ad campaigns, and signage that carried the brand from the parking lot up to the platforms.

Through all of it, one thing about the founders never changed. Plenty of parks are built for thrill seekers, but Lorrie and Brian light up when they talk about the reluctant climber. They built their parks for every age and skill level, and they train guides to climb alongside guests with disabilities, so that almost anyone who wants to get up into the trees can. That, more than any zipline, is what we were branding all along.

A decade of collaboration will test any partnership, and this one worked because it ran on trust in both directions:

"With Condensed, I just kind of always know that they're going to do what needs to be done. I don't need to be on top of them or manage them. They take ownership of their work. They speak their opinion, especially if something isn't appropriate to our brand."
– Lorrie Funtleyder – Co-Founder of Boundless Adventures

We typically pair up with our startups for life, and Boundless is one of the few stories with an ending. Some engagements are sprints; this one was a full expedition. Nearly a decade, three park launches, and by the time we wrapped up, Boundless had everything it needed to keep climbing on its own. Two founders came to us with nothing but a dream of a better adventure park. They left with a brand built to hold their weight.