Rimowa - Initial Ideas

Logotype - Considering the luxury aesthetic this branding needed to convey, as well as the simplicity of modernist design, it was quickly decided that the logotype needed to be simple and modern. Despite this, it still needed to have something distinct and original about it; simply typesetting the name of the brand in an appropriate sans serif font may convey the right tone, however it doesn’t add to the overall identity. Having a distinct form or signifying aspect really creates more of a distinct brand. In Rimowa’s previous logo, one interesting aspect was the way the ‘W’ intersected and overlapped in the middle. This idea of utilising the intersecting W in more contemporary logotype was visualised in the font Anisette Bold (1). The W was also mirrored and utilised for the M which balanced out the logo effectively. This logotype was way too bold, so using a lighter weight was experimented with (2), and also applying rounded edges (3). These lines with rounded edges felt very evocative of the grooves in Rimowa suitcases, which is what everyone knows the suitcases for,  however, the logo just didn’t look formal and sleek enough, so it was then set in Helvetica Neue Light (4). This logo design felt a lot more sophisticated, the thin weight gave it a real sense of space, which matched the idea of a suitcase well, because while they are sturdy objects, they are technically empty and hollow. Using Helvetica also felt appropriate as it is a typeface that was heavily used in the Bauhaus design movement. 

Posters - Creating initial ideas for the poster design was an effective way of establishing the art direction and general approach to the brand identity. The first designs created (5,6) were very inspired by bauhaus and modernist design and featured simple geometric shapes which were inspired by parts of rimowa suitcases such as the wheel, the corners etc. These poster designs utilised too much black which made them a bit too intense, they also didn’t look contemporary enough. The original idea was to use the three primary colours, like in Bauhaus design, however the brief stated that they didn’t want any blue in the identity as the colour had been over utilised in their previous branding. For this reason in the next set off designs, blue was swapped out for green. The next set of designs (7,8,9,10) are a lot lighter in both space and tone, 7 and 8 both feature a repeated pattern of the geometric shapes used previously. This style felt quite appropriate but not entirely evocative of a suitcase, so the next two designs (9,10) feature repeated thick rounded lines to match the grooves of Rimowa suitcase. It felt important to utilise the idea of the grooves within this visual identity because the brief had stated that they are part of the ‘DNA of the brand’ and when branding a physical product, conveying the physicality and form of the product is an effective way to communicate it. Another interesting aspect of these posters was how when grouped together in a rectangular form, the cluster of lines almost depict a suitcase in a simple graphic way. 

Collateral and Product - Initially considering what other touch-points this identity could be applied to, one of the first ideas was to have a pocket sized notebook (11); considering the function and setting of when a suitcase is used, it would be handy to have a travel sized notebook that you could use to write down flight details or write notes while you’re on the plane. This would be a vertical flip book style notebook with perforated pages that could be torn off. Another idea was to have the pages fit the suitcase tag, so that you can quickly put your details in on the go. Finally, an initial idea for how the branding would be applied to the aluminium suitcase itself was designed (12). It’s almost like a stamp, with both the lines and logotype applied, it would be embossed so that the lines would match the tactility of the grooves on the suitcase.