Só Collective

Só Collective is an retail concept created by Baluba and Kildare Village committed to nurturing a new generation of Irish designers. The aim is for the store to be a home for Irish design, showcasing the best of contemporary Irish fashion, lifestyle and craft from established and emerging designers.

Our direction focuses on the meaning of the word ‘Só’, Irish for ‘luxury’. The idea was to look back at Irish history at early examples of luxury found in our culture. Bronze Age torcs and discs acted as a point of inspiration and the symbol used as the primary mark grew from this reference point. We married this with a bespoke monospaced typeface which incorporated some of the more common characteristics found in Gaelic letterforms.

In tandem with this mark and typeface we developed a series of marbled patterns, referencing the different types of marble found on the isle and we utilised these for a plethora of print and promotional materials.