Buffalo Systems by The Consult
Opinion by Richard Baird Posted 28 August 2012
Buffalo Systems is a outdoor clothing brand established by mountaineer Hamish Hamilton that has, over its 30 year history, developed a reputation for creating ‘exceptionally effective and durable outdoor clothing’. Design agency The Consult was recently involved in fine tuning Buffalo System’s brand positioning, delivering a revised and much improved visual identity (alongside new photography) consistently executed across swing tags, campaign materials, point-of-sale and a new website.
The result replaces the very loose backwards facing buffalo outline of the original identity with a far more proprietary design that neatly delivers the themes of strength, functionality, practicality and technology through a smart combination of symbology, stencil cut detail and geometric construction. The mark’s new position to the left (in conjunction with its stance and arrow-like head) follows a more appropriate forward moving design convention while the tall X-height, heavy characters, rounded terminals and simple ligature of the logo-type remain untouched, a clear display of restraint on the part of The Consult’s designers, conveying reliability, accessibility and detail. It is a simple well thought out revision that communicates far more with the same amount of assets.