Timberland Branding

Once Timberland had introduced the world to their Built for the Bold brand voice with an integrated, global campaign, it was high time to codify the fresh look and feel with a new brand bible. Drawing inspiration from best-in-class brand guidelines spanning industries from outdoor retail to aerospace, the Timberland team set to work exhaustively defining the brand’s iconic visual center and unmistakable tone of voice.

To start, the team dug into Timberland’s storied past, pulling together decades of articles, reviews, print ads and even the diary of a former CEO. This material illuminated a clear narrative thread connecting the brand’s working-class, immigrant roots with the bold and progressive Timberland brand we love today. This brand history constitutes the introductory section of the guidelines, adding context to the Consumer Muse, Mission Statement, Values and Brand Proposition that will guide Timberland’s internal operations and external communications for years to come.

Working in parallel, the Design team had dedicated themselves to locking down the visual brand guidelines to ensure Timberland “owns Wheat” forevermore. But anyone involved in these branding projects knows it’s not just about color — everything from the typography, kerning and wordmark to the logo usage, photo treatment and prop selection was stressed to the finest detail.

Now, designers, photographers, directors and more can look to these guidelines to find inspiration, not restrictions, to nail nearly every aspect of the brand’s visual center in unique and exciting ways every time they get a brief. The final product is a 165-page, hardcover tome Timberland can rely on to guide its creative for the foreseeable future.