Mac Moss Studio designs the identity for KEEN’s move into trail running

KEEN was founded in 2003 and is known as ‘the original hybrid shoe’ across sandals, hiking and utility. In 2026, it moved into the trail running category for the first time – launching the Seek, Roam and Wander. “Running is a natural extension of our existing product range,” KEEN’s Associate Creative Director Sean Coggins explains. “As categories like fast-and-light hiking and thru-hiking have evolved, the natural progression is towards moving faster. Running was the next logical step. What connects the range is less a specific activity and more a shared design philosophy,” he adds. “The intended use changes, but the underlying approach remains: understand how people actually move, listen to their needs and design accordingly.” To mark this move, Coggins brought in Mac Moss Studio to create the identity for KEEN Running. The Idaho-based animation and design studio was briefed to make a graphic system for global application across all channels, one that would give the brand’s running department a distinct look of its own. “The design language draws inspiration from the earliest runners who traversed landscapes for survival and connection – mirroring topographic lines, ancient pathways and the literal footprint of running,” Coggins details. “The goal was to create something ‘imperfectly human’: organic/neo-organic, gritty, with evidence of the human hand. It draws from nature and old-school design rigour, but balances that discipline with a sense of whimsy.”