Colin Scott casts off new look for John Smedley knitwear

Colin Scott, creative director at The Workshop, has created an identity for John Smedley knitwear (pictured right), replacing an identity he created for the brand 18 years ago.

The rebrand will coincide with John Smedley’s 225th anniversary when it launches in September at the brand’s flagship store in London – which will feature interior design by Four IV.

Scott created the old identity when working for design group Scope, which now operates as Dig For Fire, and he has been working with the brand since on smaller campaigns.

The new identity comprises a menswear marque which will be used as the corporate logo and a womenswear marque differentiated by a ‘flourish’ on the ‘s’. A jay bird, historically used as a marque by the brand, was dropped ten years ago. Scott has reintroduced this as a ‘sign of quality’.

‘We’ve taken it from an old company stamp and redrawn it with a simpler line,’ he says. It will allow ‘greater flexibility’ and can be printed or woven, Scott adds.

The Workshop collaborated with calligrapher and lettering artist Peter Horridge to create the marques and logos.

The last time Scott worked on the brand was to create brand awareness, as he says that at the time John Smedley was moving from being a manufacturer for brands such as Paul Smith to being a fashion brand in its own right. ‘You think you’ve got one chance to work on it and you want it to last,’ he says.