Visual Identity Meinhart GmbH
For this Graz based local hardware store, we provided a new visual identity for there overall use. The aim was to preserve the well-known store name and the associated typeface logo in the new design. So the difficulty was, to merge the colour range of the old logo and extract the important developable parts of the logo. After analyzing the old appearance we decided, that the font VAG and the capital M are the fundamental parts of the logo and worth to be transformed into a new contemporary visuality.
The first step was to change the font VAG, which was designed for Volkswagen in 1979 by a modern alternative. We decided to come up with the rounded Version of FF DIN, which was drawn in 2010. The FF DIN Rounded meets our requirements of typography in this project and is a good connection to the old typography.
Then we dissolved the M‑shape out of the old logo’s background and bring it to the foreground. It was important for us to redraw the outline based on the capital glyph M of DIN Rounded and give it some few individual changes in detail. The result was the »Meinhart M«, which is related to the font and has its own profile.
We reduced the number of colours to four, an orange and dark green for the cooperative Bau-Ring, a light green stands for ADEG, a grocery shop within the store and a black as a neutral colour, which holds everything together. This kind of rainbow builds a flexible graphic element in upcoming tasks and can be placed in multiple proportions and scalings.
So finally the »Meinhart M«, the new typeface and the four-coloured rainbow forms the basic ingredients of the new design. Every visual product for the future will be based on a flexible layout with these few pieces. To establish the new appearance to customers, its important to communicate the formal and typography-based style strongly in the future.
After the establishing process, a second step can be followed by additional actions to strengthen the custom relation.
Client: Franz Meinhart GmbH
Design and Art Direction: Alexander Grimm
Typeface: FF DIN Round