Wedge continue their collaboration with Indigo, resulting in a playful, spirited identity system

Since we featured their ‘Turn the Page’ campaign in October 2021, Montreal-based design agency Wedge have continued their work with Indigo; creating a revitalised identity system for Canada’s largest cultural department store. Maintaining some core aspects of Bruce Mau’s original 1996 identity, such as the logomark and signature indigo blue hue, Wedge sought to take the surrounding elements in a playful new direction – aligning the friendly verbal identity of the brand with its visual aesthetic.

“The brand platform and system are completely modernised,” Co-founder & Creative Director Sarah Di Domenico tells us. “Our design team respected the legacy and cleverly pulled in a contemporary typeface reminiscent of the logomark,” she explains, turning to Radim Pesko’s Agipo as the primary typeface. “Agipo instantly gives the mark a renewed energy and purpose.”

Typographic supporting Agipo is classic sans serif Futura, another legacy of the previous identity, and Lineto’s serif, Bradford. “Futura was already in use by the brand and made sense to keep within the brand evolution (not revolution!),” Di Domenico explains, “whilst Bradford brought a quality,” additionally referencing a decadent serif used in Mau’s era as design lead. “Indigo touches on so many different topics, products and communications,” she continues, “and this typographic mix and style allows for a wide variety of communications.”

A similar, eclectic tone is also portrayed through the energising use of colour, the vibrancy of which plays a significant role in the identity’s joyful manner. “Our design team developed a colourful system starting with the brand’s signature blue,” Di Domenico recalls, bringing a more contemporary edge to the brand. “A complimentary primary palette is used thoughtfully for campaigns, general brand communications and special announcements,” she explains, further supported by a tertiary colour palette for season graphic exploration. 

Collectively, Indigo’s identity cements the store’s relationship with its customers by referencing its previous ‘Living With Intention’ strategic guide with the new expression, ‘Life, On Purpose.’ “Intention can feel restrictive, choiceful, reductionist, or pressureful,” Di Domenico suggests, bringing to attention the everyday pressures we all face and the difficulty in making choices. “‘Life, On Purpose’ implies intentionality but takes away the pressure,” she concludes, encouraging one to celebrate their own path and their own autonomy, “an approach that opens doors to discovery on your terms, diving into hobbies or topics or passions you love, on purpose.”

Wedge

Indigo