Moleskine is an Italian brand of luxury stationery manufacturer, which was established in 1997z the brand is mostly known for its notebooks and journals, but also produces a lot of high-end leather accessories, which are distributed worldwide.
Moleskine is one of the world’s most famous stationery brands. Owned by the Italian Modo&Modo, this legendary company was established in France, in the small town of Tours, as a little stationery factory. For many years the brand has been providing its iconic notebooks to people of different professions. Among the most famous fans of Moleskine were Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Bruce Chatwin, Guillaume Apollinaire, Jean-Paul Sartre, and many others.
Unfortunately for everyone, the company closed its production in the middle of the 20th century. A new life to the legendary notebook – now officially under the Moleskine brand – was given by the Italian company Modo & Modo, which restarted its production in 1997.It all started with a copy of the historical notebook in a black leather binding. It was the only product that the company introduced in 1997.
Gradually the range of products under the Moleskine brand began to expand: many variations of the standard notebook were created, and pens, pencil cases, bags, backpacks, and much more were added to them. Today Moleskine offers a large selection of paper products, smart notepads, apps, books, accessories for digital devices, writing, and travel accessories.
What is Moleskine?
Moleskine is the iconic brand of notebooks and paper products manufacturer, which was established in Italy and became famous all over the world for its fancy and high-quality planners in bright covers. The notebooks of the brand are used by artists and designers as well as businessmen from across the globe.
The very first Moleskine logo featured a stylish and chic logotype in the uppercase, executed in black color and written in a fancy custom serif typeface with smooth main lines and thin sharp serifs, which added playfulness and elegance to the solid inscription. Usually placed on white or embossed on the cover of the brand’s notebooks, the wordmark looked confident and sophisticated. After the redesign of 2013, the style of the lettering remained untouched.
The Moleskin visual identity is modern and multipurpose, as was designed with a smart idea in mind.
The Moleskine logo is composed of a wordmark with an emblem, which is often used on its own and is a core of the brand’s visual identity.
The nameplate in all the capital letters is executed in a confident and strong serif typeface, which is Copperplate Gothic. It’s straight distinct lines evoke a sense of traditional approach, while the brand’s emblem is a symbol of progress and modernity.
The Moleskine emblem consists of nine cells, set up in three levels and forming a square. The letter “M” is placed in the first cell, while all the others are just black squares with rounded angles.
The emblem represents the creativity and universality of the brand. In various advertising campaigns, the cells of the Moleskine logo are filled with different icons, depending on the purpose.
The basics black and white color palette of the brand’s logo is powerful and stable, it shows the timelessness and actuality of the brand, as well as its progressive and energetic approach. It is a mix of traditions and the future, of classic elegance and modern style.
The bold elegant lettering from the primary Moleskine badge is set in the uppercase of a fancy custom typeface with small thin serifs on the ends of thick straight bars. The closest fonts to the one, used in this insignia, are, probably, Modesto Lite Expanded, or Copperplate EF Bold.
As for the color palette of the Moleskine visual identity, it is based on simple black, a timeless symbol of elegance and quality. It is also the brand’s tribute to its roots, and the famous black moleskins, used by the greatest writers and artists of the 20th century.