Cain’s Quest: 20 Years of Snow, Speed, and Labrador Grit!

Twenty years of badass, snowmobile-endurance racing needs a brand that’s equally as badass! So, Rogue Penguin was thrilled with the challenge to design a logo to celebrate the legacy of Cain’s Quest and its 20 years of racing through the wilds of Labrador!

In case you didn’t know, Cain’s Quest is the world’s longest and toughest snowmobile endurance race. For its 20th anniversary, the goal was clear: make a badge that riders and fans would look at and think “fuck yeah!” and proudly wear on hats, jackets, and more. Here’s how we spent a few weeks turning that brief into a rugged logo with nods to Labrador and signposts two decades of frozen trails.

Aligning on Purpose

Most logos live in digital ads, websites, and/or sponsor slides. This one needed to do that too, but also live on participants’ gear for years. It had to read well on a beanie pressed under a helmet, and it had to look sharp on a jacket that’s seen dozens of refuelling stops. Our primary audience was the riders themselves, people who spend all day and night in -30°C, battling snow drifts and icy winds. The secondary audience are the fans and more than 400 volunteers tracking the race online or at checkpoints. Both groups needed to feel the same rush when they saw this badge.

Key ingredients from Cain’s Quest:

• The bold wordmark: Riders already know what “Cain’s Quest” means. There’s no question it had to be a part of this.

• The inukshuk icon: It’s in Cain’s Quest’s DNA and a cultural anchor for Labrador. It marks waypoints and guides in the wilderness, in other words, the perfect metaphor.

• Labrador flag: Green, white, and blue colours, combined with an evergreen branch are a quiet nod to place.

On top of these three elements, we had to signal “20th anniversary” in a way that feels earned. No cheap party confetti here. Instead, we used a straightforward ribbon - representing the finish line - with a subtle twist.

Rough Sketches: Function Before Ornament

We kicked the process off with (digital) pencil sketches. At this stage, we care more about form than details. A logo on a jacket has to work at all sizes. A logo on a helmet sticker sees more wear and tear than most. We sketched three core ideas:

1. Vertical Stack: Inukshuk on top, wordmark in the middle, ribbon at the bottom. Clean, but it felt static—like it was waiting for someone to push it.

2. Horizontal Emblem: Wordmark to the left, inukshuk to the right, ribbon underneath. Balanced, but there’s not enough space for the inukshuk to breathe.

3. Shield-Style Badge: A shield outline frames everything. Inukshuk sits above the wordmark. Ribbon cuts across the lower part. We liked this. The shield shape suggests resilience - steel, armour, something that repels snow and wind.

We ran with shield-style. It gave us room to layer checkered flags, inject energy, and still let every element show clearly, even on a small beanie patch.

Translating to Vector: Layer-by-Layer

In Illustrator, we built a base shape: a shield-like polygon with a thick orange border. Why orange? The easy answer is it’s part of the Cain’s Quest brand, but it’s the colour you see on snowmobile helmets, windscreens, and reflective gear. It gives the badge a warmth against the Labrador cold. It also ties in with the inukshuk.

Top of the Shield

Checkered flags are universal for “race,” and they fit perfectly behind the inukshuk which adds motion; flags waving in the wind. The squares are pure black and white, so they stay crisp when stitched or screen-printed.

Inukshuk

The inukshuk sits front and center in that warm orange. We kept its stacked-stone chunky style from the Cain’s Quest brand. Chunky shapes hold up, so if you embroider this on a jacket, it stands out. The orange stroke around the shield edges ties back to the inukshuk colour, so it feels cohesive, not like someone slapped a random icon on a random badge.

Placing the Wordmark

Directly under the inukshuk, we set the “Cain’s Quest” wordmark. It’s a custom block type - sturdy and simple like the Cain’s Quest brand. However, we arched it and applied a subtle white-to-light-gray gradient inside the letters. Why? Pure white on a dark patch can glare. Pure black on a colourful background can feel flat. The gray fade hints at snow drifting across letters, which makes sense for a snowmobile race. Plus, at small sizes, like a hat logo, this gradient reads as a solid white, but with a little extra dimension when you look close.

Sewing in Labrador

Under the wordmark, we needed a banner to announce the 20th anniversary. We borrowed colours from the Labrador flag. Just like the Labrador flag, blue sits above green, this stack suggests a horizon: blue sky over green earth. It’s a subtle nod to the land riders cross. The evergreen branch was the finishing touch!

Final Tweaks and Wear-Tests

We simulated how this logo prints on hobby-machine leather, nylon patches, and a knitted beanie. No gradients outside the wordmark. Everything else is solid fill to ensure it embroiders cleanly. We sharpened all anchor points so stitch-up machines don’t get confused. We also tested it on a black, white, and dark gray background to ensure the orange border never vanished. However, when being placed on orange, we made sure to have a solid white keyline around it so it stands out no matter what.

Why Participants Love It?

1. Rugged Versus Refined

   • Chunky shapes. No tiny flourishes. This badge resists wear. It looks just as sharp after a season of off-trail jaunts or a night of bonfire stories.

2. Instant Recognition

   • Wordmark is the same bold letters riders know. They see it and think “finish line.”

   • Inukshuk ties them to place. It’s a beacon - like the ones marking the course.

3. Colour Story That Speaks

   • Orange pops on black or navy gear.Blue and green signal home. Riders think, “This is ours. This is Labrador.”

4. Wears Well

   • Simple forms. No gradients that break.

   • Clear Pantone calls. Manufacturers won’t guess.

   • Tested on patches, sweatshirts, and hats. It stays legible at two inches or feet feet wide.

Closing Thoughts

In just a few weeks, Rogue Penguin turned a simple ask into a badge that riders will wear long after the anniversary season. This logo isn’t a souvenir. It’s a mark of pride. Twenty years of frozen trails. Twenty years of roaring engines. Twenty years of hands on the throttle. We gave it a shape that survives snow, sun, and stitch-up machines. We gave it colours that shout Labrador. And we gave it a form that is bold and proud.

That, in a nutshell, is how you bake wearability, tradition, and design craft into a single badge. Here’s to another 20 years of Cain’s Quest, and to every hat and jacket that wears this logo into the next chapter of tundra glory.

Do you need a brand that can stand up to anything and be worn with pride? It’s time to go rogue!