Hestra Boulder Store Logo
Extending a Heritage Brand Through Place-Based Identity
Overview
For the debut of Hestra’s Boulder retail location in 2025, the goal was to create a special-use logo that felt uniquely connected to Boulder while remaining unmistakably rooted in the established Hestra brand.
Using the original Hestra Gloves logo as the foundation, I designed a localized identity that preserved the brand’s recognizable color palette and visual integrity while introducing a custom illustration of Boulder’s iconic Flatirons.
The result was a logo system that blended Scandinavian simplicity with a strong sense of place — creating a retail identity that felt authentic to both the Hestra brand and Boulder’s outdoor culture.
The Challenge
Hestra’s identity carries decades of recognition within the outdoor and ski industries, making consistency and restraint essential throughout the design process.
The challenge was to create a location-specific logo that:
- Maintained the integrity of the original Hestra branding
- Used the existing brand color palette for immediate recognition
- Incorporated a Boulder-specific visual element without overpowering the core identity
- Worked effectively across storefront signage, merchandise, packaging, and digital applications
Because the logo would appear in both retail and brand environments, the solution needed to feel elevated, timeless, and like a natural extension of the Hestra brand system.
Design Approach
I began by studying the structure, typography, and visual balance of the original Hestra Gloves logo to identify opportunities for customization while preserving brand familiarity.
To ground the identity in Boulder, I created a simplified illustration of the Flatirons, one of the city’s most recognizable natural landmarks. The illustration was designed with clean, minimal linework that aligned with Hestra’s Scandinavian-inspired aesthetic and complemented the geometry of the existing logo system.
By retaining Hestra’s established color scheme, the new mark immediately connected back to the parent brand while allowing the Boulder-specific illustration to create a unique sense of place.
Throughout the design process, I explored how the logo would function across a variety of physical and digital applications, ensuring flexibility, legibility, and consistency at every scale.
Outcome
The Boulder store logo successfully extended the Hestra brand into a localized retail experience while maintaining the consistency and credibility of the original identity system.
By combining the established Hestra color palette with a minimal Flatirons illustration, the project created a visual connection between the brand’s Scandinavian roots and Boulder’s mountain culture.
The final identity feels timeless, functional, and intentionally tied to place, reinforcing the store’s role within both the Hestra brand ecosystem and the Boulder outdoor community.