Contrast Creative

Client

Failsworth 1903

Category

Overview

Founded in 1903, this long-established Manchester hat maker came to us to completely re-vamp their branding. They wanted a brand which would have a modern appeal but also allowed them to celebrate their heritage.
"The reworked logo was a homage to the original crest as well as firmly looking forward to the future. Great work guys!”
Paul Lynch, Managing Director, Failsworth 1903

Defining the problem 

Over the years, their logo, had morphed into many different versions and had appeared in its various guises across all the company’s marketing literature and communications material.

Failsworth is rooted in British heritage, founded at the birth of the Edwardian era, evolving through the war years into being one of the biggest suppliers for hats and helmets for the services. Today they are one of the largest hat design and manufacturers in the country selling their products to bespoke independent boutiques and white-label products to high-street stores across the country.

Failsworth has had several logo iterations over the years but we are grateful to be given the opportunity to invent their new brand identity. We needed to design a logo which gives respect to their heritage but also reflects the future, where the brand is headed.

Keeping the crest

We presented a raft of logo treatment options, which managed to retain the essence of the original logo yet move it on with subtle design twists and a modern font. We felt strongly about increasing the presence of the crest, making it more central to the brand identity than the previous logo, which focuses much more on the outer circle graphic and the uppercase typography.

We felt it was crucial to keep the brand identity simplistic, featuring a three colour palette with one primary typeface. When pairing a font with the crest we wanted something neutral that wouldn’t compete with the crest. Futura was the perfect choice, classic in its form and already established in British design. Here Futura is subtle and adds a contemporary twist to Failsworth.

A similar process was followed for refining the colour palette. We went with rich tones which felt luxurious and classic, inline with the brand.

Rolling out the brand

The new logo made its debut on the front cover of the company’s Autumn 2013 brochure. It was great to be able to roll out the brand identity on this new brochure. In addition to designing the brochure, we also did the lifestyle photography shoot and all the product photography (featuring over 200 premium quality products) coordinating everything from location scouting, styling and models. From the success of this we then went on to create swing tickets, a full stationery suite, a host of email campaigns and a website.

We’re continue to work with Failsworth on their now twice yearly brochure campaigns and work hard to keep moving the brand forward.