Beta-tester Jeff Baumgardner shares Step-by-Step instructions for creating an indieVelo Team Kit and in-game Branding because everyone loves New Kit Day.
One of the joys of joining a new team is New Kit Day! It makes you feel like you belong to the group when that package arrives and you can fly your team colors. Even in the virtual world, it is exciting to have the option of putting on a pixelated version of your kit. Your kit marks you as a teammate and helps spot others on the team. As many virtual cyclists have never met in real life, I feel a connection whenever I cross paths with my teammates in the virtual world.
One of the underappreciated perks of the virtual cycling platform indieVelo is the ease with which one can creat an in-game team kit and branding. Although the community is not as big as some other platforms, many teams have already placed their flags in the game and more are starting to set up shop.
Disclaimer—You Don’t Need To Be a Graphic Designer
Several questions have arisen about the process in the indieVelo Discord server, and since I just went through it, I want to share my experience. It took a little bit of effort to learn basic graphic design skills, but overall, it was seamless and shockingly simple.
I will mention that I am NOT a graphic designer, and my experience with online tools starts and ends with PowerPoint. I have played around with some AI image generators but have no real experience with graphic design.
Starting with this background, I recently offered to set up the team for my coach, Lunden Friberg from Free Bird Endurance (@freebirdendurance on Instagram), as several of us athletes are on IndieVelo and we had discussed creating a team kit so that we could race together as a team. We had just placed the order for the 2024 IRL kit and were eagerly waiting for it to show up.
Also Read: indieVelo—Creating an Event
How To Create an indieVelo Team Kit
The first step was to go to the indieVelo Wiki page on team creation (Organise Your Own Team—indieVelo Wiki), where I learned that I needed to email help@indievelo.com with the team’s name, team managers, and a completed template for the kit. This sounded simple enough, so I went to work in handy (and free) Google Sheets to cut and paste from the team kit order page to this template. I attached the file and sent the email off with a smile on my face.
I obviously had not read all the details, as I received an email several hours later reporting that creating the team was no problem, but the kit would be blurry in-game because I had sent a high-resolution PNG file in 2048 x 2048 pixel format.
In order for the kit to be well-represented in-game, I would need to scale up the template. Although I understood the individual words in the email, I had never done this kind of work before and was not exactly sure where to start.
Fortunately for me, there are a variety of online programs built for this purpose. But where to start? Being cheap and not planning on using these tools again, I started with free programs that promised to convert your JPG to PNG; however, I quickly learned that I got what I paid for, and while these programs would make some changes, they would not actually accomplish the goal of creating a high-resolution image in a larger format.
The next step was to find a paid program with a good free trial, and I found Canva (Adobe Express also seemed like a good option). This program allowed me to use a variety of tools, including an image upscale app, a magic eraser, and a color match app to help put the pieces back together for the higher-resolution image.
It was a process of trial and error with several back-and-forth emails to indieVelo that told me I was closer but not there yet. At last, I was able to put in the final touches, get a sign-off from the team, and send it in the evening, US time. When I woke up the next morning, I was informed that the team kit was live in-game.
Although the process took about two days of back and forth with IndieVelo and my team, this delay was all due to my lack of graphic design skills. If your team has someone who knows how to use these programs and has access to high-resolution logos, this process will be much quicker. From what I learned, I feel confident that I could now put this together in about an hour or so.
With our new kit in-game, we were able to schedule a race together and proudly show off our new kits!
How to Create indieVelo In-Game Branding
With the new kit in-game, after an obligatory photo shoot and a test ride, it was time for the next step: placing branding on the banners along the routes. This is also a nice perk so your team can “sponsor” your events.
he process is even simpler than the team kit and is also found on the Wiki (Custom Event Branding – IndieVelo Wiki). There is no template needed; all you have to do is email the image to help@indievelo.com.
Feeling pretty confident, I emailed the logo only to be told that a higher-resolution image would be preferred as well. At least I knew what to do this time and fired up Canva to use the image upscale app and… presto! A better image was created. The reply email was quickly affirmative, and I was able to add these banners to our race.
I have very much enjoyed my time spent on indieVelo and have appreciated how quickly the developer, Dr. George Gilbert, has been at improving the user experience. Adding teams with kit and branding improves the experience for those on the platform and is a good foundation for building the community here.
Special thanks to Beta-tester Jeff Baumgardner!
Semi-retired after more than 20 years as the owner and director of a private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, Chris now enjoys the freedom to dedicate himself to his passions—virtual cycling and writing.
Driven to give back to the sport that has enriched his life with countless experiences and relationships, he founded a non-profit organization, TheDIRTDadFund. In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to his “Gain Cave” on Long Island, New York, raising support for his charity.
His passion for cycling shines through in his writing, which has been featured in prominent publications like Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. In 2024, he was on-site in Abu Dhabi, covering the first live, in-person UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
His contributions to cycling esports have not gone unnoticed, with his work cited in multiple research papers exploring this evolving discipline. He sits alongside esteemed esports scientists as a member of the Virtual Sports Research Network and contributes to groundbreaking research exploring the new frontier of virtual physical sport. Chris co-hosts The Virtual Velo Podcast, too.
