Stùc

Currently in development, is an iOS side project that myself and a colleague have been working on, that allows the users to plan, climb and catalogue treks up the Scottish mountains classified as Munros.

The app will offer a complete journey guide, with info on routes, weather forecasts, difficulty ratings, a tally of Munros climbed in each council region as well aiming to integrate native iOS features like Activity, GPS data and several backup emergency features.

The name of the app – Stùc – which means peak in Scottish Gaelic – was chosen to represent the end goal of the app, the obvious summit of the mountain top, while helping the user to push themselves to reach the peak of all 282 Munros in Scotland.

With a view to potentially extending the brand beyond the screen further down the line, a visual brand that was flexible and accessible was the primary objective. The above logo – along with the two simplified alternates below – has been designed to be used in a range of situations from an iOS icon, social avatar, sticker, t-shirt graphic to embroidered beanie hat tags.

While there is a limited number of Munros that are easy enough for younger hikers, we also wanted to make the design accessible beyond the stereotypical middle age man going to bag his latest munro at the weekend.

With some of the easier mountains, we plan on having a curated list of family treks to do with children of an appropriate age in the summer/warmer months. Because of this the visual identity needed to be accessible to the younger ages.

Taking inspiration from some mainstream Scandinavian clothing brands I saw while on holiday in Copenhagen, along with folding in the easily digestible UI / UX from leading apps like Air BnB – I feel the Stùc branding hits this requirement. Through a gentle choice of typeface, paired with a bright colour palette and finally rounded off by an easily identifiable pentagon shape that is repeated throughout the branding in icons and various other elements.