Balestra visual identity and website
Balestra was founded in Rome in 1959 by Renato Balestra. In 2022 the historic maison underwent a natural metamorphosis and inaugurated a new phase. Having renewed the logo, Balestra then relied on Norma to detail the coordinated visual identity and a new website.
The project ignores any logic of innovation, creativity or clichés related to fashion. There is no large photo to welcome the homepage, the logo sits small at the bottom and there is no identifying element other than the very essence of titles, text, (Balestra blue) links and images on a white sheet.
Instead of adopting exotic fonts, the whole identity is built entirely out of one of the most trivial system fonts: Arial.
In line with the project for the website, other materials were developed in accordance with the same typographic solutions. In addition to the usual corporate graphics, consisting of letterheads, business cards, templates for presentations and catalogues, an advertising campaign in Milan during fashion week was created as well.
A deliberate attempt was made to move away from the repetitive paradigm of the white logo centered on a photo of a model, not because this does not work, but because it does not constitute a sufficient means of identification.
