Quality craftsmanship: IYA Studio deliver an impactful brand for print and embroidery shop Imprint

Imprint Works is a versatile print and embroidery concept that offers customers a personalised fashion experience, where they can customise their garments and accessories on demand. The brand focuses on collaboration and short-run production, constantly seeking partnerships and curated projects to expand its offerings. In addition to customisable ‘Blanks,’ the shop features a rotating selection of curated projects by designers. And, most excitingly, the 1,700-square-foot space in Kings Cross provides an interactive and immersive experience, transforming into a store, stockroom, or even a broadcasting area for DJ sets and events.

IYA Studio, a Deptford-based design consultancy, partnered with Imprint’s founders to create a cohesive brand world and website. The goal was to convey their expertise and craftsmanship while maintaining a bold, bright, and functional aesthetic.

The visual language revolves around a core set of assets that allow the Imprint team to customise their brand expression. From confidently showcasing their work front and centre to supporting and spotlighting collaborations.

Lead Designer Harry Kitchin explains, “in the early stages of discussing the project with the founders, we believed that the brand should feel like a manual or a set of instructions for the space. The output of the store should speak for itself, and the brand should be able to almost disappear when necessary.” For example, the website design is very simple, with black and white text and a selection of large images – pulling the focus back to Imprint’s workmanship.

Throughout the design process, the team drew inspiration from print marks and iconography. This led to the creation of the brand’s defining asset: a square, linear marque – IYA’s version of a registration mark – which serves as a mark of quality for Imprint’s products.

The wordmark of Imprint pays homage to the art of printing, thanks to its textured appearance. “We wanted the identity to reflect an aspect of the DTF printing process used at Imprint. After selecting the type for the wordmark (ABC Social Condensed), we printed it out and applied a layer of the tape/backing that is used to apply artwork to garments, then scanned it to give it the feel of having just been through a heat-press,” Kitchin explains. The studio chose PP Neue Montreal as the brand’s typeface, which strikes a balance between functionally conveying information and making a statement when enlarged to create signages or garment graphics.

The store has a unique layout, based on gridded sections, which allows for seamless transitions between different spaces and activities. Inspired by this, IYA developed a series of pixel-like grid motifs which can be applied across various brand outputs (such as repeat patterns and poster layouts) creating consistency and coherence throughout the brand’s visual presence.

A distinctive, almost fluorescent shade of green completes the visual language, adding a memorable visual element to the identity while also serving as a wayfinding feature. “The choice was something we agreed on with the founders as they wanted a colour that Imprint could own, almost replacing a logo,” Kitchin reveals. “We opted for the green with the intention of it becoming a wayfinding element for the store when used externally – contrasting against the brick on the street. We went through a few iterations, starting with shades of bright lemon yellow before settling on the bright lime green.”

IYA Studio

Imprint Works