United Design Lab focus on neutrality with a typographic identity for menswear brand MEGA SUEN

Established in Beijing in 2016, MEGA SUEN is a Chinese menswear brand that aims to challenge gender by exploring sensitivity and vulnerability in place of stereotypical masculine themes. Not stopping there, they also hope to rethink overconsumption by producing garments designed for longevity and recyclability; avoiding the typical pace and low quality of the fashion industry in both their products and marketing campaigns.

To help further establish their ethos, MEGA SUEN turned to Beijing-based design and innovation studio United Design Lab for a rebrand; who fully bought into what the brand stands for with a bold typographic solution. Focusing on neutrality in an attempt to avoid assuming gender stereotypes and loud marketing messages, the resulting visual language allows the brand, its products and the connected functional details, such as washing instructions, to take centre stage. “We always spend a lot of time explaining something to others,” UDL Founding Partner Fang Jianping reflects, “however, we find the design concept from MEGA SUEN comes from the brand itself: the information is the expression.”

The centrepiece of the identity is perhaps the most suitably neutral typeface of them all: classic sans serif Neue Haas Grotesk. Chosen for its “rational” and “stable” qualities, the typeface conquers every space it finds itself within alongside a palette of white, black, green and a touch of orange – all choices that again aim to avoid gender stereotypes. “We chose the green colour because it looks so peaceful, and when compared to others, it’s calmer and more secure,” Fang adds.

Accompanying UDL’s combination of type and colour is a geometric symbol that’s minimalistic construction is a fitting partner for Neue Haas Grotesk’s modernist traits. “The symbol is about ‘two people,’” Fang explains – two people that could be anyone, any gender or any race – a concept very much in line with MEGA SUEN’s forward-thinking approach to fashion.

MEGA SUEN

United Design Lab