The type featured in the logo of the Californian label Rodarte reveals its beauty the moment you take a closer look at it.
The very first collection sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy created appeared in a February 2005 issue of Women’s Wear Daily. The collection, which consisted of only ten pieces, caught the eye of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. She flew to Los Angeles to meet the sisters. Since then, the brand has received many fashion industry awards.
The Rodarte logo showcases the name of the brand in gray or black on the white background. There are no pictorial elements, symbols or emblems of any kind – nothing but the wordmark.
For the authors of the design, this is quite a challenge as they need to convey the brand’s essence with very limited means.
How was this objective reached in this case?
The design forces behind the logo focused on making the typography striking and unique. In a way, the typeface has absorbed the brand’s style, which has been described as “strange,” “risky,” “deconstructed,” and yet still wearable (this was translated to “legible” in the case of the type).
While the overall proportions of the letters are close to average (maybe slightly more elongated than average), the details add an unusual touch. The width of the strokes varies dramatically within every glyph, due to which the type adopts its classic calligraphic quality. The serifs are exceptionally thin, they are on the verge of visibility, like high, thin stilettos – although they are almost invisible, they transform the whole look.
Also, some of the glyphs in the Rodarte logo have unusual details (the diagonal bars of the “A,” for instance).