Polish footwear, clothing and accessories brand Kubota has unveiled a new visual identity. The existing iconic Kubota logo underwent quite a metamorphosis and appeared in the latest campaign SWOBODNIE. BO YES.
The brand, which originates from Łódź, argues that Kubota is a lifestyle based on freedom of movement and self-expression. It is to these values that the new logo refers. The design of Kubota’s new visual identity system is the responsibility of muflon studio, which together with Hanka Dziubińska also created the concept for the rebranding campaign.
The video spot and photos promoting the campaign “SWOBODNIE. BO YES” was directed by the December x Zieliński duo, and the Warsaw Creatives agency was responsible for the production of the session. The photos from the lookbook session were shot by photographer Maciej Nowak and Bulletproof Warsaw (production), and for the media campaign Kubota is working with the Initiative Media agency. We publish the mentioned video later in this article.
A cloud of comfort and a pattern-breaker
The brand’s new signet consists of two elements: a pattern-breaker, or slash, and a cloud, called the comfort cloud. The slash is, on the one hand, a nod to the existing logo and, on the other, a symbol of breaking patterns in fashion and thinking. The cloud, on the other hand, is meant to evoke associations with freedom, comfort and fun.
The brand admits that the main advantage of such a designed logo is its simple form. The graphic can be easily scaled, combined with any colour and any type of product. The typeface used allows it to adapt to new visual trends, thanks to the possibility of fluently changing the thickness, height or width of the letters. And the juxtaposition of soft (cloud) and sharp (slash) forms in the signet gives the mark a unisex feel.
The logo also has an additional, hidden meaning. The slash combined with the cloud, which alludes to the shape of a heart, can be read as a message: I love Kubota.
New visual identity
The brand claim, invented by Kubota fans, has merely been shortened to the form: Kubota is a lifestyle. In turn, the logotype and the symbolism contained in the signoff and the typeface became the starting point for the new visual identity. It will be present on the brand’s website, its social media and other outreach channels.
From now on, the new logo will be primarily visible on Kubota’s footwear, clothing and accessories. The exception is Velcro flip-flops, on which – as a nod to tradition and fans of the 1990s – the familiar, classic logo will remain.
The fact that Kubota is based on freedom and comfort is not the result of marketing calculations. We have developed a brand strategy, but strategy does not invent values, it condenses and brings them out. Kubota is like that, because THIS is who we are: real, expressive and free. When we started thinking about a campaign shoot to present the new logo, we couldn’t find an idea that would trump this sincerity. Kubota is us. And hence the session whose main characters are the people who make up Kubota,” this is how Alina Sztoszko says about the visual side of the campaign SWOBODNIE. BO YES – says Alina Sztoch, CEO & Co-founder of Kubota.
BO YES we like, BO YES we are, BO YES we feel, BO YES we live – the phrase “BO YES”, alluding to the word KUBOTA, became the starting point to tell the story of the brand’s values: freedom, fun, authenticity and inclusiveness.
Starring: the Kubota team
Importantly, the faces of the campaign spot “FREEDOM. BO YES’, directed by the duo December x Zielinski, are the brand’s employees – the people who make up the brand from the inside and best reflect its character: they are authentic, natural and simply themselves.
The new visual system is the result of a branding strategy that does not create brand values anew, but reinforces those that have always been present at Kubota.
The agency Tigers and Daniel Kotlinski (phase I) and Hanka Dziubinska (phase II) are behind the new brand strategy.
source: Kubota
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