So, Who are You?
Established in 2005 in the founder's bedroom, Awesome Merchandise— now just Awesome — makes all kinds of custom merchandise, from t-shirts to custom-die stickers to banners to mugs to drumsticks and more. Basically, they make swag, all in-house at a 3,300-square-foot facility in Leeds, UK, with a staff of nearly 30 people. Recently they introduced a new identity designed by neighboring Robot Food.
Robot Food was tasked with reinventing the brand. It had to have exceptional standout, position them as masters of merch, and encapsulate the people and ethos that make Awesome, awesome. Robot Food's approach combined new school graphics with hand-made typography. Junior designer, Chris Shuttleworth, painted the typeface in ink, and the creative team created a suite of logos in CMYK in a nod to the print trade colour model. The aesthetic is rooted in alternative music culture, like Awesome themselves, and articulates the company's strong craft credentials.
Robot Food provided text
Logo detail. The previous logo had an interesting type choice and the exclamation point in the "O" could be considered clever but, overall, it was forgettable. The new logo has a punk-hipster vibe that looks rather cool. The pointy "A" stands out and in the minimal application with the stroke looks almost sophisticated. In contrast to yesterday's Philadelphia 76ers post here you can see the proper way to set and letter-space type on a circle. Insert golf clap here.
Edgy yet professional, the striking identity translates seamlessly across all brand touch-points, including their fully responsive website, branded clothing range and custom mailer boxes. Robot Food also consulted on the design of the factory showroom. This distinctly comprehensive brand identity expresses the sheer passion, ambition and craft that makes Awesome Merchandise so uniquely exciting and progressive.
Robot Food provided text
Alternate logo. 
Mulitple examples of "We are awesome" in action. There is a second element to the identity with which things start to get rad. The "We are awesome" lettering functions as a bolder logo and statement that, repeated often enough, leaves no doubt about whether Awesome is awesome or not. (Hint: it is). This is not groundbreaking branding, it's just fun as heck. When the two logos combine, they make for a great couple.
Custom type. 
Process behind the type. 
Delivery boxes. 
Tote. 
Brand guidelines. Notice the "Not Awesome" uses of the logo. 
Sticker and pin swag. 
Business stationery and tags. 
Factory showroom. A client that makes swag is the ultimate client to create applications for an identity and all the pictures above are clear evidence of such excellent synergy. There is no deep-level strategy or highly conceptual approach to the applications other than making things that makes other people want to make things like those things and that's not a bad thing. It's an awesome thing.
Logo detail. 
Social media icon. (Sorry for the horrible quality).
One of two new TV spots featuring Elizabeth Banks, directed by The Wonder Years' Fred Savage. 
Logo detail. 