WELD, a US-based apparel supplier, has carved a niche for itself by producing distinctive caps and socks, offering both customisable blanks and its own branded pieces for leading independent labels.<\/p>\n
As WELD\u2019s reputation expanded, the team set out to update its website and turned to Belfast-based studio Angel & Anchor<\/a> for support. But what started as a straightforward digital brief soon exposed deeper issues, revealing a brand that felt fragmented and inconsistent.<\/p>\n \u201cWe came into the project originally wanting a proper website, but after coming to Angel & Anchor with a ton of odds and ends, it was painfully obvious that we had a pretty scatterbrained graphic system that needed to be sorted before putting together a website,\u201d says Stephen Thompson, partner at WELD.<\/p>\n This called for a comprehensive rebrand, but before Angel & Anchor could get to work, there was a lot they had to consider.<\/p>\n WELD\u2019s monogram by Angel & Anchor<\/p>\n WELD\u2019s visual identity is shaped as much by the brands it chooses to work with as by its own products. Its blanks and branded apparel act as a canvas for independent labels, and the style and personality of those brands are reflected back onto WELD itself.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a roundabout way, WELD\u2019s brand is almost like the accumulation of the identities of every brand they work with,\u201d says Ben Connolly, founder and creative director of Angel & Anchor.<\/p>\n These collaborations subtly define WELD\u2019s identity. At the same time, WELD required a brand world strong enough to hold its own among the distinctive personalities of its collaborators, while positioning itself as a cut above its competition.<\/p>\n \u201cThe WELD brand itself is still significant, so it was important to have something that stood out amongst a lot of legacy brands offering something similar,\u201d says Thompson.<\/p>\n As a result of a patchwork of influences, WELD\u2019s identity already had a strong, eclectic character. This was palpable in their old website, which \u201cfelt like a collage of images and clippings,\u201d says Connolly.<\/p>\n Instead of smoothing over that roughness, the studio chose to harness it, building a multi-mark identity system \u2013 a custom logotype and monogram, along with a toolkit of emblems, symbols, and taglines \u2013 that could flex across contexts.<\/p>\n Angel & Anchor\u2019s rebrand for WELD<\/p>\n Workshops with WELD confirmed that its values lie in creativity, craftsmanship, and community \u2013 qualities better expressed through variety than uniformity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal was to create a whole brand world,\u201d Connolly explains. \u201cThat meant developing loads of marks, taglines, and colours rather than leaning on a single logo, set in stone. We wanted an identity that felt irreverent, flexible, and more like an anti-traditional approach to branding \u2013 something that could live in different places without ever being pinned down to just one mark.\u201d<\/p>\n That flexibility also allowed Angel & Anchor to capture the duality at the core of WELD \u2013 the grit of its industrial, manufacturing roots and the laid-back, free-spirited personality that runs through its culture.<\/p>\n The new identity holds those opposites in tension. A custom logotype and monogram that draws on stitching and structure is contrasted with playful taglines and nostalgic symbols like the galloping horse, which embodies both the hard-working \u201cworkhorse\u201d and the freedom of the open road.<\/p>\n WELD\u2019s multi-mark system<\/p>\n \u201cThe horse logo really stood out to us,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cIt felt unexpected, but it conveyed strength, reliability, and a sense of timeless forward motion \u2013 a true representation of WELD without even having to use the name.\u201d<\/p>\n Accompanying the horse symbol is a suite of marks \u2013 from a jagged sun that balances imperfection and structure to flags and patches that evoke nostalgia and Americana pride.<\/p>\n \u201cWELD\u2019s story really began with our trademark Field Trip Hat, an unstructured hat in colours and fabrics that are inspired by the hats we remember our dads wearing when we were young,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cSo it made sense to have a visual language that called upon some nostalgia and Americana.\u201d<\/p>\n That sense of heritage was paired with a focus on craft in the custom logotype, inspired by machine stitching, which directly nods to WELD\u2019s embroidery and customisation services.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted it to carry that same offbeat spirit of the brand,\u201d Connolly explains, \u201cso we flipped the expected rules of a serif \u2013 making the thick parts thin and the thin parts thick \u2013 to give it a subtle, unexpected twist.\u201d<\/p>\n Angel & Anchor\u2019s rebrand for WELD<\/p>\n The \u2018W\u2019 from the logotype doubles as a visual motif, expanding into striking patterns and accents across the identity.<\/p>\n The logotype, and the monogram with the wonky \u2018W,\u2019 are paired with Activ Grotesk, chosen as the primary typeface. \u201cWe wanted something straightforward and utilitarian \u2013 the kind of type you\u2019d see on a stitching machine manual or control panel,\u201d says Connolly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t need much personality, because the brand\u2019s character was already being expressed in so many other ways.\u201d Meanwhile, Klim Type Foundry\u2019s Pitch lends a typewriter flavour, functional at its core, but with subtle quirks that give it a mid-century, mechanical quality.<\/p>\n While the visual language was crafted to ground WELD in its industrial roots \u2013 structured, functional, tied to the act of making \u2013 the brand language gave Angel & Anchor space to mirror the irreverent, free-spirited nature of the brand.<\/p>\n Angel & Anchor\u2019s rebrand for WELD<\/p>\n Taglines like \u201cGarage Goofin\u2019\u201d embody a laid-back tone, while phrases like \u201cWELD, dammit!\u201d \u2013 held within the graphic of a waving flag \u2013 highlight the brand\u2019s confidence and attitude.<\/p>\n To develop these tagline lockups, the team dug into mid-Century references to make sure the language felt authentic to WELD\u2019s world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe looked at how manufacturers used to apply phrases on machinery, packaging, and steel badges,\u201d Connolly explains. \u201cEven small details, like how words were arched or set inside a mark, helped us create lockups that felt rooted in that world while still giving them a playful, modern edge.\u201d<\/p>\n And the response to the new look has been immediate. \u201cWe\u2019re already getting requests for retail products that feature our new marks,\u201d says Thompson.<\/p>\n Angel & Anchor\u2019s rebrand for WELD
\nAngel & Anchor\u2019s rebrand for WELD
\nThe \u2018W\u2019 from the logotype holds the \u2018MFG\u2019 mark<\/p>\n