Brooklyn Industries
1999
BRANDING
CUSTOM LETTERING
LOGO DESIGN
APPAREL GRAPHICS
Dresser Johnson designed the brand identity for Brooklyn Industries, a chain of streetwear stores that has helped export Brooklyn cool to the rest of the world.
In 1999, the founders of the Crypto messenger bag company approached us to help develop a brand for their new streetwear fashion line Brooklyn Industries. They originally wanted to create a graffiti tag-style logotype that featured a horse as its mark. This may have had something to do with the popularity at the time of the Marc Ecko apparel brand, which combines graffiti and an image of a rhinoceros.
Instead, we proposed that the distinctive urban landscape surrounding the Brooklyn Industries factory provide the iconography of the brand. In the late 1990s, the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn was filled with working artists, who occupied the former warehouses and industrial spaces and scattered residential buildings in the area.
THE PRIMARY BROOKLYN INDUSTRIES LOGO
ALTERNATIVE LOGO FEATURING INDUSTRIAL SKYBRIDGES CONNECTING INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS
ALTERNATIVE LOGO FEATURING A FACTORY BUILDING
We ventured onto the rooftop of the Brooklyn Industries factory, where there was an unobstructed view of the Manhattan skyline. However, another messenger bag company, Manhattan Portage, was already using the New York skyline as part of their identity, so we turned towards Brooklyn. Rising from the low commercial and residential buildings in Greenpoint, a few blocks from the Brooklyn Industries headquarters, a single steel water tower stood out.
We used the structure to anchor the logo, which integrates custom typography with the North Brooklyn view. Given our experience as graffiti artists, we could have easily used tag-style lettering for the identity, but we wanted to try for something that was timeless and hence “more street” for the brand. Using a bold chiseled marker, we drew a unique blackletter with hints of graffiti style, most recognizable in the letter “L.” The final design brings together the water tower, rooftops and bold blackletter type into a picture frame border, creating a one-of-a-kind vista that is unmistakably Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Industries quickly rose to fame and opened storefronts in all areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan, as well as Chicago and Portland, Oregon. The iconic water tower is now recognized everywhere as a symbol of Brooklyn and its creative spirit.
BACKPACK FEATURING OUR CUSTOM LETTERING AND A VARIATION OF THE WATER TOWER LOGOMARK
CLOSED VELCRO WALLET HIGHLIGHTING OUR CUSTOM BLACKLETTER TYPOGRAPHY
AN EMBROIDERED OUTLINE OF THE LETTER “B” FROM THE BROOKLYN INDUSTRIES LOGOTYPE
CUSTOM CALLIGRAPHIC BLACKLETTER LOGO WITH HINTS OF GRAFFITI LETTERING
THE OUTSIDE OF A VELCRO WALLET HIGHLIGHTING OUR CUSTOM BLACKLETTER TYPOGRAPHY
THE INSIDE OF A VELCRO WALLET WITH AN EMBROIDERED LABEL FEATURING OUR CUSTOM BLACKLETTER TYPOGRAPHY
DETAIL OF THE WATER TOWER IN THE BROOKLYN INDUSTRIES LOGO