Cou

Cou is a luxury fashion and lifestyle brand, with its maiden store in the renowned shopping destination of Muskoka, Ontario. A retailer with a truly international product line-up, with featured designs from Spain, Greece, and New York, among many others, Cou needed a visual identity to communicate their thoughtful approach to curation, and which could hold its own among the high-end brands they feature.

When we started working with Cou, their store had not yet opened. They needed an identity created from scratch that was true to their vision, and which had effortless associations of quality from the very first impression.

But besides offering exclusive, upscale items, Cou was creating a shopping experience that moved beyond this. They wanted their stores to be places where people could browse, relax, and enjoy, as well as places to dress impeccably. And so, balancing associations of class with feelings of warmth and familiarity was crucial to the project.

This began with deciding a logo direction for that brand, and we opted for a simple typesetting of the name “Cou”. The name itself is short for Courtney, the first name of the founder, and for us it made sense to put this at the centre of the brand. Rather than create an icon for the logo, we loved the familiarity that came with introducing the company on a first name basis.

The typesetting we chose for this was Canela because of the duality of characteristics it possesses. It has a softness, and also a sharpness. This means it carries warmth, yet a subtle confidence that any luxury fashion brand should bear. It is also modern, yet classic. This speaks to Cou’s fresh perspective on a more conventional culture, walking the line between traditional and new.

In the colour palette, we introduced warmer primary tones to maintain approachability to the brand, also paying homage to the silk and “softness” that underpins so much of their collection. In the secondary colours, we leaned into browns and hues that hint at the naturally occurring tones of Cou’s home in Muskoka.

The end result is a brand that is true to the philosophy of the company, and to where they came from. It plays into some of the classic connotations of fashion, but also establishes them as a fashion brand of today. It is luxurious and upscale, while remaining inclusive and inviting.