Around the beginning of summer in 2014, Agatha Mutheu reached out to us to share her goals to start a new clothing label in Kenya, Africa. Agatha had described her desire to create a brand that offered well made clothing at affordable prices made locally in Africa. The reality was that no such brand or product existed in East Africa and it was in light of the contrast between high cost high fashion and low cost low quality garments that Dichotomy was born.

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Brand Discovery Excerpt: Keywords
From the keywords developed, one of the main focuses was on the aspect of balance and duality.

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Brand Discovery Excerpt: Moodboard

Discovery
Looking at the current landscape of fashion brands in Africa, Agatha and our team wanted to present a brand that looked distinctively different from the rest. We began the discovery process and focused on the establishing the visual direction of the brand through the moodboards.

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Brand Discovery Excerpt: Mark Details
Dichotomy wordmark was composed of two contrasting typefaces: Akzidenz Grotesk and Perpetua. Akzidenz Grotesk is a classic sans-serif with a rich and robust character. In using the bold weight in the family, we can convey a strong personality. Perpetua, on the other hand, is described as one of the most elegant and feminine serifs around. Its details provide a beautiful and elegant appearance to counter Akzidenz.

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Brand Guideline Excerpt: Typography and Logo

Design
Going into the design process, we focused on the aspects of contrast and balance. Together with Agatha, we had wanted to stay away from any visual cues that would make the execution of the identity appear too obvious. After exploring our possibilities, we focused back on the wordmark and type selection. To convey the aspect of duality in the brand, we paired two contrasting fonts together—using Akzidenz and Perpetua. Akzidenz, to us, offered a strong and masculine personality while Perpetua, to us, was one of the most pretty and perhaps feminine serifs designed. The pairing provided a nice balance and interest to the wordmark.

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Sector
  • Identity

    • Location
    Kenya, Africa

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