Case study · 04 / 08
Northwater
Outerwear for weather, not for spectacle.
Sample content
01 — Brief
What we were asked to do
A new outerwear label wanted to look capable without borrowing the flags, badges and condensed shouting of larger mountain brands.
02 — Studies
Drawing before deciding
03 — Identity
The mark we kept
A single wave-line over a round: a contour and a moon. Colour stays close to wet stone, with one cinder accent. Type is a grotesk with enough weight to read on a hangtag in poor light.
04 — Compare
Before and after
The “before” is a sample of an unresolved identity, not a real previous brand.
Left: before. Right: after.
05 — Applications
In use
06 — Palette
Colour
- Water#0E2A33
- Reed#1B4E5A
- Cinder#C4552A
- Mist#F2F6F5
- Stone#102126
Type
Bricolage Grotesque & Outfit
Variable grotesk for the name, a plain sans for everything that has to be read.
07 — Results
What changed Sample content
Sample content. At a sample fitting, wearers said “serious” more often than “technical”. That was the brief.
2 colours
Do most of the work
8 weeks
Sample identity timeline
5 pieces
First applications drawn
Deliverables
- Logo and wordmark
- Colour and type
- Woven label
- Hangtag
- Lookbook cover
- Guidelines