gander

A UK based outdoor performance brand with a focus on making technical based clothing that can be work on the peaks right through to the pubs.

Featured in EyeC Magazine, Proper Magazine, @114.index, @Advanced Rock and @Advanced Research

Brand Identity

Background

A focus was placed on grounding the brand in how humans interact with the outdoors. We wanted to approach this from a new and unique perspective, focusing on traditional ways that humans have connected with the outdoors.

This started with looking at cave drawings and building from this point. We decided that trekking was a foundation that resonated with the owner, and we wanted the brand to build from here. So, we studied the use of rocks by ‘hikers’ and scouts as a way to communicate with each other while trekking through mountain ranges. Trails are communicated by these groups through simple methods such as rock sculptures and arrangements. Letting those following behind them about certain things. Such as ‘turn right’, ‘do not go this way’, or ‘I have gone home.’

Once, we arrived at this narrative as a focus for gander’s brand identity, it was down to how it was to be communicated. So we frequently communicated with the brand owner to find a happy medium in the design of the iconography. He wanted to use his own handwritten typeface logo within the brand - so we refined this to be as symmetrical as possible, as well as to compliment the direction of the iconography.

See the examples below of how the typeface logo was developed, as well as initial sketches of the rock formations and the final products of the rock iconography’s. Also, an example of an animation I made for the brand to use in a future blog feature.

Webstore Design

URL: https://gandergander.co.uk/

Shopify operations. The backend set up with applications to help with shipping and email newsletters.

Front end has bespoke blog designs.

The backend system is set up for a novice ‘Product and Content Manager’ in mind. Simplicity was key in this webstore.

Webstore manual also provided to owner with full directions on how to use the front and back end of the store.

Editorial Implementation of Brand Identity

Examples of branding identity used throughout the photo editorial for the initial release plus product shots of the garments.

Copywriting Work

Initial Mission statement that was later edited by Ali George Hinkens.

‘When examining the impact the fashion industry can have on the world around you then you would be quite shocked. So, when we decided to make an outdoor apparel brand, the first thing to consider was the environment in which we are bringing that apparel into. To make the best choices for the environment and of course, you.

The clothes you wear have the biggest impact on your own wellbeing. Gander is as much about the life-cycle of the garments we produce, as it is about the life cycle of the planet itself. To be one with the world we trail through. To be a part of it. Mutually benefitting from our interaction with one another.

This longevity and foresight of Gander is essential to what we create. Every garment we make comes from a well thought-out process. From the top, right down to the moment it arrives in your hands. Whether this is the sustainable choice in materials we use, our carefully selected manufacturing, or the reusable packaging it arrives in. It is the idea of each garment having a purpose and being inclusive to all people. A garment is not just a garment to us. It is a message.

An overarching narrative of contributing to the world in a positive way. To develop with our planet. So many brands nowadays offer easily-accessible products. We do not. Gander first and foremost will always offer you an idea. One in which we all mutually benefit from this world around us.

Taking from it, giving to it, appreciating it all along the way. Ideas are not always accessible or line up to the industry status quo.
But they can change the world, and how we, as humans, see the world around.

We urge you to take a minute to appreciate the world around you. To Gander.’

Final Edit

Our mission is to provide purposeful garments that accompany you from the peaks to the pub, and everywhere else in between. We do this by borrowing technical features from outdoor wear and combining them with fashion-forward silhouettes. 

Much of our work at gander is guided by a keen awareness of the impact we have on the planet and the mark we leave behind. While it’s easier said than done, we don’t want to be just another generic apparel line - we stand for more than that. 

We stand by a relatively simple philosophy: to create durable and long-lasting garments that are constructed properly in trusted factories, using materials that you can rely on - no matter where you find yourself. 

We are not an archetypal outdoor brand or even a streetwear one for that matter. Instead, we occupy the grey area between the two that is unclassifiable, creating garments that can seamlessly coexist in either or. Where traditional outdoor labels have been adopted for use in urban contexts, gander is designed to be just as functional in rural and city settings alike. Whether it’s a rave in Manchester or a hike in the wilderness, gander adapts to its surroundings and remains versatile.

While we don’t define ourselves as an outdoor-oriented label, we acknowledge the hypocrisy around designing clothing for the outdoors without any regard for the environment in which it is intended to be used. With that in mind, we felt a responsibility to deliver our interpretation of sustainability that isn’t necessarily touted that often; a quality over quantity ethos. We lean on intentional capsule releases as opposed to seasonal collections, helping you to build a transitional wardrobe that can be worn all year round. Where new releases are concerned, some of them will act as software upgrades, building upon previous output that will see core styles reinvigorated using different fabrics.

Poster Work

Graphics and layouts for posters that were printed for events, paste ups in Manchester and Bristol as well as on socials.