You like your Kona bike, right? What do you like about it? The way it shreds when you ride it? Duh. I bet you also like the way it looks when you see it across the room or in the back of your truck, all sleek and stylish and muddy and seductive. You can thank Aaron Hogg for at least some of that inspirational eye candy. As a designer at Kona for nearly two decades, he’s behind many of the colors and graphics that helped transform shreddy pedal sleds into modern classics.
It’s come up before in this podcast that much of the magic behind Kona is inspired or directly tied to music, and in Aaron’s story this is especially true. You could almost say that being a world class designer is actually his second act, or career, after a youth spent touring his native New Zealand in a variety of popular rock bands. Naturally, we talk about these adventures, as well as his late blooming as a bike person (you won’t believe how late!), the inspirations behind some of your favorite bikes, the process of creating a new bike line, and way more.
We asked Aaron to share some of his favorite graphics he’s created for Kona with us. This selection reprsents decades of Aaron’s work.
