T&M
2024
Art Direction
Creative
Tycoon and Makayla were born from a simple but powerful idea: what if the makers had faces? As Carbon Cycling Co. evolved into The Carbon Design Lab, these two characters became its creative soul — fictional tenants living and working inside the lab itself, the brains and hands behind every craft and design the brand produced.
They were cyclists first. New Yorkers always. Their aesthetic was shaped by the grit of the city's streets, the culture of its boroughs, and a deep reverence for cycling as both sport and art form. Together they embodied what the brand stood for — precision, expression, and the kind of creativity that only comes from actually living the culture.
What started as two characters was always meant to grow. Tycoon and Makayla were the foundation of something larger — a expanding roster of makers, each representing a different region, community, and corner of the global cycling world. From U.S. subcultures to international riding scenes, the vision was a living, breathing universe of characters that mirrored the diversity of cycling itself.
Bringing them to life required more than in-house execution. It demanded deep creative partnerships with illustrators who could translate character direction, personality, and cultural nuance into a visual language that felt authentic — not branded. The result was a visual campaign that blurred the line between storytelling and identity.
Art Direction
Resource Management
Illustration
Release Campaign
Pop Up Event
The Story
Two cyclists. One lab. An entire world of cycling culture — brought to life. Tycoon and Makayla were the faces behind The Carbon Design Lab: fictional makers shaped by New York grit, cycling art, and the belief that every design has a story. They were just the beginning.
[ Extended ]
There's always a moment when a brand stops being a business and starts being a world. For The Carbon Design Lab, that moment was Tycoon and Makayla.
The concept was straightforward but creatively ambitious: give the lab its makers. As Carbon Cycling Co. underwent a deeper transformation in both name and identity, two characters emerged as the brand's creative conscience — fictional tenants who lived inside the lab, designed its products, and carried its ethos in everything they touched. They weren't mascots. They were collaborators. Artists with a point of view.
Tycoon and Makayla were cyclists in the truest sense — not defined by performance stats or podium finishes, but by culture, community, and craft. Their visual DNA was rooted in New York City: the textures of its streets, the attitude of its riders, the way cycling in a place like that is equal parts necessity and identity. Their designs reflected all of it — the grit, the beauty, the tension between speed and style.
But the vision was never limited to two. From the start, Tycoon and Makayla were conceived as the opening chapter of something much larger — an expanding universe of makers, each one representing a different geography, riding culture, and creative tradition. The American cycling scene is not monolithic, and neither is the global one. Future characters would carry stories from the West Coast, the South, the Midwest, and beyond — eventually reaching into international cycling communities that rarely see themselves reflected in premium cycling brands.
Executing this vision demanded real creative partnership. The characters needed to feel lived-in, not designed by committee — so the brand sought out illustrators who could absorb the direction and return something that felt genuinely human. The collaboration wasn't just about style. It was about cultural translation: taking personality briefs, reference points, and narrative details, and transforming them into a visual identity for each character that was distinct, resonant, and true.
The result was a visual campaign that operated on two levels simultaneously — as brand storytelling and as genuine art. Tycoon and Makayla didn't just represent The Carbon Design Lab. They made you believe someone was actually inside it, working.
Makayla
Project Shot
Assets
Project Shots
