The colour of Covid

Every cloud has a silver lining, and, while these current times are testing the best of us, even a global pandemic might offer up the goods. 

For seven years, Lion + Cub has existed beneath the soft beauty of a teal blue palette, but lockdown does funny things to people, not least founder and lead photographer at Lion + Cub, Nikki McLennan: 

“Covid made me consider things in a new way; it made me think about what I wanted for the business, and how I wanted people to ‘see’ us. I needed to do something positive and proactive that was a step beyond fluffing the pillows on the sofa while my two boys lounged there totally oblivious!” 

The obvious choice was a rebrand of Lion + Cub’s imagery and colour palette, and the process involved in this is nothing short of fascinating.  

We know that the human eye can physically perceive millions of colours, but, as a race of people, we don’t all recognise these colours in the same way. Colour perception is our brain interpreting colours and is subjective, and therefore to personal experience.

Different languages and cultural groups also carve up the colour spectrum differently. The Warlpiri people, who live on traditional lands to the west and north of Alice Springs, don’t even have a term for the word ‘colour’. Instead, they have a rich vocabulary that refers to texture, physical sensation and functional purpose to describe the concept. 

Monochrome, graded, saturated, distilled, brightened and inverted. It can be warm or cool, icy sharp or softened at the edges, colour wears many costumes, but for this rebrand, Nikki looked to the warmer palettes, in search of the calm, safe, strong space she was craving during the fear-laced days of lockdown. 

And the result is beautiful. Channelling an African vibe, Lion + Cub is now wrapped in warm skin tones, rustic vintage vibes, endless grasslands lit by the sun. Think butter-soft leather and distressed wood, copper glints, caramel, cedar and golden light. 

The effect adds a sophisticated elegance to the brand, and the African theme has carried through to our new product guide [INSERT LINK]. Not only that, it has brought a broad grin to Nikki’s face, which, in these difficult times, is a win. 

We hope you like it too, alongside our stunning new logo artwork, courtesy of artist Ben Toupin. Charged with investing our branding with the tenderness of a mother lion with her cub, his work truly does this concept justice. 

Check out his work on insta: @bentoupein