NB Studio creates new identity for sustainable children's clothing brand Petit Pli

It’s quite the eye-opening fact that in the first two year’s of a child’s life, they’ll grow up to seven sizes, and that, as children’s clothing brand Petit Pli points out, is a hell of a lot of clothes to buy. In a bid to make this process more sustainable, Petit Pli has designed a collection of garments which grow as kids do, and have worked with London-based studio NB to create an overall identity and strong logotype which represents this.

Founded in 2017, Petit Pli is the result of founder Ryan Mario Yasin’s research while studying towards a master’s in global innovation design at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London. Disappointed upon realising the clothes he’d bought his newborn nephew were quickly outgrown, Ryan utilised his training as an aeronautical engineer to approach designing garments “with a fresh perspective”, and in turn has pioneered “a new approach to slow fashion”.

Therefore the brief for NB was to not only get this point across, but also to “strengthen the brand logo and its subsequent applications by creating a brand identity inspired by the product,” the studio tells It’s Nice That. The identity also needed to convey Ryan’s mission “to reduce waste and emissions in the fashion industry and inspire the next generation to adopt slow fashion values,” aiming to connect with parents “who are passionate about sustainability and innovative design.”

In turn, NB’s identity is mainly influenced by the unique selling point of Petit Pli’s clothing range: expandable technology. The studio’s work does so by using photography to “highlight the product features and encourages exploration”, additionally through a series of short films explaining the product’s concept and use. This is also translated through the layout of Petit Pli’s logotype, positioned together to appear as if it’s folded, expanding and contracting, just at Ryan’s garment designs do.

NB is a studio known for its particular attention to detail, pinpointing the aesthetic language in a client’s existing mission or output and heightening it through graphic design. Example of NB’s recent projects outlining this approach include its work for ANNA and African food delivery service Jambo! and is continued in its thoughtful work for Petit Pli. This is also obvious in the packaging the studio has designed for the brand, which “broadened the brief into a sustainable, e-commerce packaging solution that uses our unique illustration style to bring a simple piece of packaging to life,” the studio points out. Not only does this design reduce “packaging cost per unit by 82 per cent” but also it is a great treat to keep kids excited by their new clothes as it transformis into a jet pack.