Sussex Yoga is a yoga and wellbeing brand based in Sussex, England. We were approached by a long-term client who wished to pivot from her day job in marketing into her passion for teaching yoga. We wanted to create an identity akin to a modern activewear brand rather than a traditional yoga school. This way we could extend the brand all kinds of yoga and lifestyle-related products.
Angela Nyman had been a client of Propella for the best part of a decade, working together on technology and software branding projects. Outside of marketing, she had a great passion for yoga and was a qualified yoga teacher. After becoming a mum, she wished to pursue this passion and launched Sussex Yoga. Initially, the business was represented by a simple ‘leaf’ logo. This was fine at first, but it wasn’t particularly distinctive, and the execution presented several technical problems. Angela reached out to us to help her create a new, more compelling identity to help her market the business.
We began with a clear objective: avoid the generic, new-age, post-hippy clichés often associated with yoga, such as rainbows or mystical Buddhist symbolism like lotus flowers and chakras. These outdated visuals were a barrier to all but ardent yoga enthusiasts and only served to alienate others from the benefits of yoga. Instead, we wanted to position Sussex Yoga as a ‘healthy-lifestyle’ brand. With a focus on wellness, betterment, and inner strength — open to all ages and abilities — we aimed to create a modern, inclusive yoga brand.
Importantly, we wanted the identity to be more akin to a sports brand (like Nike or Under Armour). This would allow Sussex Yoga to extend into all kinds of related areas and merchandise, from yoga mats and candles to activewear, equipment, and retreats.
Our logo design was inspired by a simple idea—the flow of energy within the mind and body one experiences when practicing yoga. Not in some woo-woo, mystical fashion, but through ‘movement, poise, and balance’.
We symbolised this by reinterpreting the ancient ‘yin and yang’ device (curiously neglected by the sector) with a simple graphic monogram, ‘S’ for Sussex. It was a carefully crafted continuous line. The icon was rotationally symmetrical and could connect and repeat itself in a never-ending, fluid pathway.
The identity was applied creatively throughout, adapting to packaging, merchandise, advertising, and social media. The colour palette was grounded with a dark ‘peacock’ tone, accented with a brighter teal, a pastel pink, and a soft mushroom colour. This gave applications a balanced, gender-neutral feel that leaned towards a nurturing feminine quality. Typography centred on a font called ‘Gitan Latin’ — a beautiful, chiselled serif typeface that aligned with the style of the icon. The look and feel conformed to a simple, unifying grid system that was both elegant and sophisticated, creating a consistent and creative platform to evolve the brand and push it into new revenue streams.
