Walk, Climb, Summit (WCS) are a UK based start-up company offering professional rock climbing instruction, coaching, guided mountaineering experiences, abseiling, navigation skills and fun days out in the great outdoors to participants of all ages and levels of experience.

WCS approached Signal studio with a very open brief, simply stating that the logo must be something super simple, the name and perhaps a mountain backdrop. It must not date and must work to all accepted logo usage standards (large & small sizes, multiple colours, single colours and in both black and white) without loss of recognition, quality and impact.

The logo had to suitable for branded clothing and equipment, as well as acting as a clear and concise brand identifier across all digital platforms and printed applications.

In the early stages of Signal studio’s conceptual thinking, semiotics played a big part in the process, with the need to deliver a versatile logo that does exactly what was requested, in the simplest way possible way.

The original font used is Futura, in uppercase, with a customisation of the double ‘MM’ letter shapes within the word ‘SUMMIT’ to hint at a mountain range.

The combination and customisation of the individual double ‘MM’ letter shapes allowed for the creation of a single line shape, to act as a mountain range icon and logo-mark.

This single line mountain range icon/logo-mark was then tweaked further to create multiple, sharply pointed ascenders that act as “mountain peaks”, and flattened stems to create a solid footing, or as they are now described, “base camps!”

The conjoined double M ‘Mountain’ icon/logo-mark was then separated for use as a dedicated, standalone icon on social media platforms and as the main logo-mark for use on WCS branded equipment and clothing.

The new WCS logo creates a controlled impression, encouraging interest through intrigue and reward with the discovery of the mountain, hidden within the overall type-mark.