Decade choose subtlety over decadence in their quiet identity for designer homeware brand Mkt

From the minds behind Toronto-based luxury furnishing store Elte comes Mkt, their sister designer homeware brand angled towards a younger demographic. As purveyors of goods crafted and optimised for modern living, Mkt was in need of an elegant identity, turning to New York-based branding agency Decade to make it happen. Their solution prospers in the simplicity of its typographic system, which utilises a harmony between sans and serif to create a graphic tension referential to Mkt’s balance of modernity and luxury. “We actually made the logo first,” Decade tell us, customising Galliard for the lowercase wordmark, “and then looked for a type system to complement it,” settling on Commercial Type’s Publico Banner and Ostia Antica by Bureau Brut. “We liked the slightly condensed nature of Publico so the type can get quite big in a horizontal space,” Decade explain, “and there’s a curvy elegance to the serifs that works really well with the logo.” The identity’s execution succinctly balances the decadence of Mkt’s products with its role to support them; resulting in spacious, effortless and subtle layouts that champion Mkt’s work rather than distract from it. This prominently manifests in the colour palette Decade opted for, with a monochrome aesthetic leading the way alongside a host of off-white and neutral colours. “There’s a lot of printed collateral with this brand,” Decade explain, “and we didn’t want the brand to overpower the furniture,” they add, pulling the colours from the furniture’s raw wood construction through kraft paper hues. “We wanted a colour palette that receded or could flex,” Decade conclude, “the natural tones and kraft paper feel at home.”