Brand Brothers’ identity for Apocope deliberately contradicts the minimalist products it represents

Seeking to better translate their French heritage and refined minimalist style into their visual language, Parisian leather goods brand Apocope turned to Paris and Toulouse-based design studio Brand Brothers for a refreshed identity; resulting in an adaptable system that effortlessly scales between minimal and maximal styling. Laying the foundations of the identity is the bespoke wordmark, which is inspired by the brand’s rhythmic and symmetrical name. “It was obvious to us that we needed to make the letters resonate with this name,” Brand Brothers’ Co-founder Johan Debit tells us, “while giving it a contemporary and urban resonance,” noting the subsequent thick strokes, tightly spaced lettering and bold presence it carries. Concerned with the cohesion between the simplicity of the product and the more outgoing nature of the type, Debit explains “the conclusion we came to was that if we followed this path, the identity would risk being very classic and a bit lame,” adding, “so we chose to take a different path and play with the name, even if it meant creating a contrast.” The type’s application across the brand’s ephemera consequently dances between being gracefully chaotic and incredibly stark – creating a contrasting energy between the product and branding. To keep this from straying too far, Brand Brothers’ chosen colour palette is purposefully limited in order to not overload the identity with an abundance of character, but rather a perfect balance of it. “We did not want to cannibalise the products with too many visual codes,” Debit recalls, “this logo acts as a signature, and the colour is brought by the products and the photography.”