Never Now creates a charming, cordial and considered identity for dog accessories brand Yonder

Yonder is a Melbourne-based dog accessories brand that offers a collection of vibrant, durable and ‘puddle-proof’ collars and leads. It was established after its founders first year with their whippet, Wally, in which they only found cheaply-made, dowdy dog products on the market. In response, they’ve created a line of products that are “here to bring that good feeling”. Made from a robust flex-poly strap with coated steel and zinc hardware, each collar and lead set is fully adjustable, available in six colours and most importantly, built to last. For Yonder’s visual identity, local design studio Never Now focused on a warm, friendly approach representative of the sheer variety of dog owners in Australia and beyond. The centrepiece of the brand system is the geometric wordmark, which uses the lowercase characters of Swiss Typefaces’ Euclid alongside a custom, uppercase ‘Y’. Creative Director Tristan Ceddia explains that “the strokes of the ‘Y’ are mirrored and form a hidden loop if you follow their curve”, adding that he “wanted the ‘Y’ to lean slightly into the lowercase characters to subtly reference a dog pulling on its lead”. The wordmark is finished with a perfectly round full stop, which doubles as a ball, heightening the effect of the leaning ‘Y’ while behaving as a readymade connector for the brand’s ‘yonder.dog’ URL. The more neutral Neue Haas Grotesk is used for the remainder of the typography to “save the brand from becoming too geometric”. In addition to the wordmark, a Yonder dog illustration appears on a selection of applications. “I threw it in to give the brand something a little unexpected”, Ceddia declares, “nobody wants to think about a dog being pulled on a lead, but it’s the reality (and fun) of walking a dog”. Dynamic in its form and composition, he reveals that “the drawing didn’t change from my initial sketch, to keep the original loose energy”.