We introduced bold vulnerability into TAFT’s already bold look and feel.

I’m no slouch, but I wouldn’t consider myself particularly stylish, so working with TAFT, a brand that values the originality of their bold patterns and bespoke nature of their craftsmanship, gave me an opportunity to push the limits of my expertise.

We met with internal leadership to facilitate a brand workshop, but our most useful insight came from interviews with ten, self proclaimed TAFT superfans and a targeted, ~1,000+ respondent style survey. The brand’s signature flamboyant colors and patterns were polarizing — style-inclined loved them, style-reluctant were curious, but needed more convincing.

We landed on a concept that can be best summarized as “bold vulnerability,” and the tagline, “Boots for the bold.” The direction articulated, in simple form, TAFT’s pièce de résistance and simultaneously supported the founder’s mission to share his personal struggles with mental health in hope to help others — a concept within the company’s cultural zeitgeist that had gone previously unnamed.

In addition to a sharper brand strategy, we also delivered an updated brand guideline with an updated logo, expanded color palette, updated typography, and a wide set of creative examples. We also redesigned their website to better communicate the brand’s bold new declaration.