DESK x ARLO HUDSON
We’ve always prided ourselves on our brand mission statement, and when it came down to progressing our visual identity we wanted to ensure we partnered with a team that understood this and that would also ensure to push the boundaries to move the brand forward in the best possible way. When it came to choosing to work with DESK.™, they totally understood where we wanted to take the brand and aligned with doing it properly, from a visual perspective. It’s time we introduced you to the DESK.™ team and discover the process we went through to develop our all new visual identity for Arlo Hudson.
Can you introduce us to DESK and the Agency?
We are a boutique creative studio based in Dorset on the South Coast. Established in 2012 we have worked with clients globally on a range scales through fashion, architecture, design and hospitality. Our services span Brand Strategy, Naming and Identity Design through to Print, Packaging and Digital.
What was it that drove the creative direction of the re-brand?
A collaborative process with the AH team, the rebrand for AH was driven by place and character, looking for identifiers that the brand could use to tell a visual narrative. For example, the play of the English gentleman, quintessentially British, dapper, appreciation for details in the design of the AH product, playful and sophisticated. Generally points that the modern-day man could relate to. We worked with the AH team to come up with the character sketch of the ideal AH customer; 'Cool, Quirky, Considered, with a smidge of chaos and a cocktail'. This allowed us to start pinning relevant associations to this persona. Use of colour, imagery, tone of voice, design style references in architecture and the like etc.
Can you explain the process of the re-brand?
We had a number of immersions into the current brand with the AH team and then into the forecast and Brand Strategy for AH moving forward. Looking at past and present brand marketing campaigns, the product, the packaging, social media, basically everything and everywhere that AH exists. We wanted to find a graphic hook that could coincide with the unique design of the product and that can be used throughout all touch-points. The most unique identifier for the product is the 3D pouch design and this forms a scoop which informed the half circle shape that has been used throughout. We then used the brand persona we created to inform all of our design choices; colours, typography and font pairings, tone of voice, treatments to images in collage format at the curvature of all the image corners used. We then created an in-depth set of Brand Guidelines that AH could use internally to implement the new brand direction across all media and applications creating consistent messaging and graphic application of the identity system to exhibit a cohesive brand across all communications.
What inspirations did you pull from?
There were many inspirations initially but this was honed in as the brand person was tightened up. Modernism, and 60's British culture played a big part in the colour palette and mix of tone of voice and black and white photography paired with modern day look book and product photography. We worked with the AH team to pull in inspiration from the gentleman of yester-year revived in modern-day pleasures like the Grand Prix, British tailoring (Savile-row), motoring, travel and traditional editorial style design.
How can having a clear brand strategy inform design?
Strategy is key as it drives clarity and direction for the Brand. The team also then has a focus and common goal and whether the design being produced meets the needs and requirements for the aspirations of the brand and its touch points and vice-versa, a brand-guidelines document and brand identity system can help realise the production and execution of the Strategy.
For more from DESK.™, visit www.deskstudio.co.uk .
We look forward to the continued roll-out of the new AH brand direction into 2023 with lots of exciting plans in the works.
All the best,
Team AH.
