Gretel may have pulled off one of the strongest brand identity redesigns of the year. They have managed to Mountain Hardwear, a mid-90’s granola-feeling outdoors brand, and made it feel like a cutting edge tech outerwear company, all without losing it’s primary identity. This is no small feat. Gretel worked closely with Mountain Hardwear to create an all-encompassing brand identity that captures the perfect balance between being wild and wise.
Let’s start with the logo and typeface they created. It’s incredible to me that they were able to keep the look and feel of the original logo, that sort of clunky yet charming 90s energy, without it feeling off or wrong. They then worked with SuperContinente to develop a typeface inspired by “hard outside with a soft interior, which was a reoccurring theme in wood type from the late 1800s.” Because of course! And thanks to an expanded color palette, the brand now feels bold, tough, and adventurous, like it could tackle anything, which is the point.
There’s a true sense that the team at Gretel had so much fun working on this project, and that the folks at Mountain Hardwear truly trusted them. The rebrand is totally comprehensive, from soup to nuts (get it?) and there doesn’t seem to be any detail that wasn’t considered.
