Mountain Hardwear’s identity blends adventurous spirit with thoughtful craftsmanship by Gretel

Founded by a small group of industry iconoclasts in 1993, Mountain Hardwear gained credibility and praise from outdoor enthusiasts everywhere.

The name Mountain Hardwear embodies the spirit of people passionate about outdoor adventures and well-engineered gear.

Marrying the adventurous spirit with responsible, thoughtful craftsmanship, Gretel anchored the brand personality in a dynamic tension between wild and wise, resonating with outdoor enthusiasts and athletes alike, and expressed it across five fields of play: camp, climb, mountaineering, trail, and alpine sports.

Gretel worked closely with the Mountain Hardwear team to develop a new identity, grounded in a revitalized purpose, positioning, and tone of voice, and brought to life with an evolution of the logo, new art direction, brand color, and a custom typographic family that is based on the iconic geometric elements of the Mountain Hardwear nut.

Gretel is an independent branding, strategy, and design studio based in Brooklyn, NY. They believe that the most interesting work happens at the intersection of opposing forces. Old/new, high/low, masculine/feminine, order/chaos, organic/inorganic.