LEGENDS
PROJECT ROLE
CREATIVE DIRECTION
POSITIONING
A CULTURAL, SLEEPING GIANT
BRAND STRATEGY
BRAND IDENTITY
CONTENT DIRECTION
challenge
Legends was a name on the rise in the apparel industry. With a Lululemon meets Supreme aesthetic, quality product construction, and a roster of owners, wearers, and collaborators including hip-hip superstar Quavo, NBA MVP Steve Nash, and other cultural heavyweights, Legends had all the makings of a sleeping giant. What was missing was a clear direction for the future - Legends had spent the first three years of its existence pursuing all avenues of partnership, product, and growth. In doing so, their brand had become too vast. Growth had stalled. Customer acquisition was expensive. The product range was too wide. Legends were moving so fast they had lost the special point of view that started them on their rapid upward accent.
approach
The Legends partnership was about bringing a distinctly Legends point of view to the market with cohesion and consistency to unleash its storytelling and growth potential.
BECOMING BIGGER THAN JUST APPAREL
The Legends brand strategy gave a lens through which the brand could act consistently within the vastness of the apparel landscape. The strategic elements turned into focusing mechanisms, and guardrails that would inform all aspects of the company, from product design to collaborations and marketing communications. In the research phase, we discovered five principles that would inform the brand strategy.
A DESIGN SYSTEM built for legends
The brand strategy set the foundation for Legends to harness storytelling opportunities true to who they are. The identity refresh provided a design framework and system for Legends to tell these stories in a way that is purposeful, fresh, and confident. We wanted the identity to feel clean and timeless with an edge that allowed for moments of unexpected type treatments and layouts. We introduced a new typography system that created a wonderful tension, allowing for moments of interest and emphasis. There is something so timeless and classic about receiving an athlete or artist's signature, which felt especially relevant to the Legends brand, so we also defined a system to incorporate the signatures of the Legends brand ambassadors into different brand applications. Rooted heavily in sports, but driven by all life forces of culture, the brand system was built for future legacies.
A MESSAGING FRAMEWORK FOR LEGENDS BY LEGENDS
Messaging was an unexplored side of the brand with lots of room for growth. Especially in the apparel space, we needed a strong voice that could span product and brand applications seamlessly. On the product side, we created a framework that helped differentiate each piece from the next and demonstrated the product's function in a distinctly Legends context. For brand messaging, a name like Legends means the copy must be worthy of the rare air the brand is claiming. If the brand's goal is to help people find their legend, the messaging had to be bold, confident, and tap into the culture. The resulting messaging framework was full of simple but powerful brand headlines meant to inject confidence into the day-to-day of the customer, encouraging them to answer their call and elevate from ordinary to eternal. Whether used in conjunction with a name like Quavo or an 'everyday legend,' the messaging speaks to the special comfort and confidence you achieve when throwing on any piece with the Legends name.
A COLLAB BLUEPRINT
Another application of the identity refresh was refining an approach to partnership and collaborations. One of the biggest markers of the current moment in culture is brand collaborations. Legends is no different with collaborations ranging from Wynn Las Vegas and Wilson Basketball to the Los Angeles Rams and YETI coolers. The new collaboration guidelines were clearer, flexible and gave respect to each brand's logo or wordmark.
