Carla Palette’s colourful identity for Mort & Max looks to set them apart in the busy CBD market

Berlin-based designer Carla Palette has developed a punchy identity for Melbourne-based sparkling water brand Mort & Max, whose CBD-infused offers seek to calm the over-stimulated and the over-caffeinated in the busy and bustling world we live in.

Looking to stand out in the crowded CBD marketplace, the identity is audacious and bold from top to bottom; led by Mort & Max’s striking wordmark, which is typeset in a bespoke cut of TypeType’s TT Trailers. “The customisation on the letters is super subtle on the inside of the letterforms,” Palette tells us, “we did this just to remove some of the sharper curves to create more of an approachable, welcoming and uplifting feel,” in line with the laid-back tone of voice the brand seeks to exude.

Sat at the centre of the comprehensive branding system is a prominent ‘m’ monogram, which is applied across the packaging and can design – again finding its form in TT Trailers. “We had to make some significant changes to the arches at the top of the ‘m,’” she explains, increasing the weight and extending the construction, “to give it a blockier feel and undeniable presence.”

With the secondary mark-making more of an appearance across the brand’s printed goods, Palette explains how this was decided in order to create a more immediately recognisable brand mark that could quickly garner an audience and recognition. “We felt that the prominent ‘m’ had more visual impact and would be less likely to blend into the competitors,” she adds, “within the market which typically leads with a small brand name at the top or bottom of the cans.”

Bolstering this combination of characterful typography and eye-catching colour is an approachable pair of secondary typefaces, with Palette opting for The Designers Foundry’s Tomato Grotesk and Klim Type Foundry’s Tiempos. With Tomato Grotesk providing a soulful, colourful presence alongside Tiempos’ intricate, sharp italics, their harmony conveys an eclectic, imperfect and fundamentally personal attitude.

Carla Palette