Alex Hunting Studio’s identity for Wool captures the curation of Asia’s leading furniture store 

Originally an interior sales agency, Wool brings up-and-coming Nordic brands – such as MENU, TEKLA and Santa & Cole – to East Asia. High-quality products that are reflective of the slow-living and holistic ethos of a Scandinavian lifestyle. Now with a studio store located in Hong Kong (slow living meets the city’s bustle), it was only a matter of time before the company expanded its reach with an online store.

London-based creative agency Alex Hunting Studio, the creative mind behind Kinfolk’s design direction, not only built the new website, but also crafted the packaging and overarching identity system. And in doing so, has captured the world of Wool in a straightforward and timeless visual language.

The centrepiece of Wool’s new look is a bespoke wordmark. By prioritising geometry and symmetry within the letters’ elegant forms, Hunting has highlighted the effortless simplicity of the brand whilst also cementing it in the luxury space. The candelabra-like ‘W’ alone feels like it belongs in a showroom.

In order to balance the refined with the rustic, Schick Toikka’s Noe Text and Grilli Type’s GT America are the supporting duo typefaces. “We chose Noe Text as a spikey and smart companion to the logotype,” Hunting explains. “It has a characterful and crafted quality, that sits comfortably alongside the heavily art-directed ‘luxury’ imagery of the furniture brands that Wool specialises in.” Meanwhile, Grilli Type’s geometric sans serif does the heavy lifting when it comes to legibility. “GT America adds a utilitarian and modernist touch,” Hunting adds, “complementing the character of the logotype and Noe Text.” 

The creative agency brought the premium look to the screen, as well as the physical brand applications. In the same way, you can’t fully appreciate the feel of a fabric’s fibres until you touch them in person, the sophisticated character of the brand is elevated through tangible premium finishes. For instance, Hunting talks us through the thinking behind Wool’s packaging boxes, which house smaller items of homeware. “We chose a textured fabric embossed covering for the box, that adds a really rich tactile experience for the shopper,” he says. “We used a clear foil with a deep deboss for the large logo stamp on all the packaging, and a sharp metallic silver foil for the much smaller tagline ‘NEW SCANDINAVIAN CLASSICS.’”

The silver sits alongside the identity’s muted ‘Scandinavia-meets-Hong-Kong-inspired colour palette,’ which includes ‘Hong Kong Tram Green’ – an official colour as recognised by the Pantone Color Institute, and a nod to Hong Kong’s iconic trams. “The shop is a specialist retailer of Scandinavian furniture but is firmly routed in its location, so we wanted to include a nod to its local culture amongst the other more neutral colours in the palette,” he concludes.

Alex Hunting Studio

Wool