AC - Marimekko

In order to gain a clear understanding of what kind of brands the artist herself is aspiring to be like, I decided to start an investigation into the visuals is involved within these brands. As well as giving me an understanding of what the artist herself wants to be involved in within the industry it also allows me to have an understanding of what type of a consumer that the artist wants to appeal to. In doing so it will allow me to gain an understanding of the personas of these customers and therefore gathering understanding of the way in which the brand needs to be visually presented to appeal to such.

Logo

Marimekko Oyj is a Finnish home furnishings, textiles, and fashion company based in Helsinki. It made important contributions to fashion in the 1960s. It is particularly noted for its brightly coloured printed fabrics and simple styles used both in women's garments and in home furnishings.

Two designers, in particular, Vuokko Nurmesniemi, with bold stripes, and Maija Isola, with large simple flowered prints such as the Unikko poppy, created hundreds of distinctive patterns and helped to make Marimekko a household name across the world.

The logo of Marimekko has been in use since 1954. Armi Ratia wanted the logo to be simple and timeless. Graphic designer Helge Mether-Borgström used modified versions of classic Olivetti typewriter letters to create the logo.

Olivetti

The typeface was selected because of its timeless nature, although this could now be contradicted due to the fact that the typeface resembles a typewriter, something which now is outdated and not uses within the modern day yet in 1954 seems to be something which would be a major part of everyday life and continue to be so sometime.

It must be noted from this branding that the typeface has been slightly altered to be able to create the correct tone official voice for the artist herself something which doesn't particularly complement the artist’s work but contrasts it that makes the work have a voice for itself. The fact that it has been altered also gives the brand a completely unique brand visual identity, because of this the brand will stay strong within the industry and has its own tone of voice visually, similar to that of the work. This is a consideration will be taken into place as the artist's work branding has her own unique style which needs to come across in the branding itself.

It is evident throughout the rest of the branding is characteristic that simplicity and timelessness were taken into consideration, in order to contrast against bright bold prints that the artist was creating. In a way almost bringing the prints into a timeless fashion and therefore being able to spread the continuation of the prints and the brand across a plethora of platforms to multiple audiences; something which is visually evident in the website. Especially through its editorial style and minimal colour palette. 

The audience of this brand is the professional stylish fashion-conscious person, who likes to remain on trend yet stand out within their fashion. He also has enough disposable income to be able to afford the clothing itself, due to its unique styling nature and process between design and manufacturing.

Further Visual Research:

Website Landing Page

E-Commerce Page