Mewa

Forward-looking Reorientation

Mewa is one of the largest textile service providers in Europe and operates in a constantly changing business environment. In order to grow consciously and innovatively, the company has decided to reposition itself for the future. With a focus on a sustainable all-round service, Mewa is becoming more digital and opening up new markets. This transformation is also reflected in its visual identity. The brand strategists at Martin et Karczinski redefined the logo (the flower), the wordmark and the colour scheme, all integrated into a reduced look. The new, multi-award-winning brand identity conveys modern communication and radiates forward-looking strength and innovation.

Brand and Typeface Intertwined

The already revised flower logo was the starting point for the development of Mewa’s corporate typeface. Soft and organic forms alternate with technical constructions. The new logotype bases its letters on imaginary weaving threads, thus creating a link to textiles both visually and in terms of content. The brand values and the minimalist nature of the logo and wordmark set the tone for the typeface: clear, human, and both traditional and forward-looking.

Technology and Humanity Combined

When designing the custom typeface, it was important to make Mewa’s history tangible, while at the same time conveying the company’s growth and development. The typeface therefore combines the central themes of tradition and future. The strong curves in letters such as m, e, g or u create a human touch and anchor the tradition of the family business. The technical details in f, t and r give Mewa sovereignty and recognisability.

For the company’s first core product, the cleaning cloth, we developed a Unicase font tailored to the specific requirements of labelling. It is used where a block of lowercase letters without ascenders or descenders is required.

The reduced and clean look of the tailored typeface supports the brand attributes of freshness, purity and growth. The combination of rounded and technical elements unites past, present and future in one typeface. Adding personality and heritage to the brand, the official typeface of Mewa is named after its founding family, the Gebauers.

With good legibility across all media, the corporate typeface is a clear all-rounder for the 45 locations in 14 countries and all 5,700 employees. With 6 weights, the Gebauer typeface family conveys the personality of the brand in all of Mewa’s analogue and digital touchpoints.