Northwind Co. — Heritage Refresh
A 38-year-old outdoor goods company that had quietly become a Gen-Z favourite asked us to update their identity without losing the customers who had carried them through three recessions. Identity, packaging and a small e-commerce site.
[ Project name ]
Northwind Co. — Heritage Refresh
[ Year ]
2024
[ Sector ]
Outdoor · Heritage goods
[ role ]
Lead designer
[ Scope ]
Identity · Packaging
[ Status ]
Shipped · Phase II in progress
About the project
The Challenge
Northwind had two audiences who didn't know about each other — the original loyal hikers in their 60s, and a new wave of city buyers finding them on Instagram — and one identity trying badly to please both.
Every refresh attempt over the past five years had felt like a betrayal of one side or the other.
Our Strategy
We treated the existing wordmark as the artefact it is — refined, not replaced — and built a packaging system that lets the product photography do the modern lifting underneath it.
The old customers don't notice the change. The new ones think it's always looked this good.
+41%
DTC revenue, first 90 days
0
Customer complaint emails about the rebrand
12 SKUs
Repackaged across hardgoods and apparel
"
"
We've tried to refresh this brand three times in a decade. This is the first version that didn't make anyone on the team angry.
Hannah Voss, Brand Director
That was
Ready to
Create Magic?
Studio hours: 09–17 JST