SomeOne rebrands Santa’s Lapland to be “more authentic” to its destination

London-based SomeOne studio has rebranded a travel operator known for organising package holidays to Lapland to veer away from Christmas clichés and better represent its offer.

SomeOne’s instinct was to move the brand towards “more authentic stories” linked to its location in the far north of Finland among the snowy forests of Saariselkä, more than 200km above the Arctic Circle, according to the studio’s founder and executive strategic creative director Simon Manchipp.

The design team sought to achieve this through a new bespoke typeface which was developed alongside Colophon foundry using “historic, traditional Sámi letterforms and techniques”, says Manchipp. Sámi are the Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi, which comprises the area historically known as Lapland.

The foundry adapted a cut of its Nib typeface using new ligatures by SomeOne, the result being a “more rustic letterform” influenced by calligraphy and stone-carving, says Manchipp. He adds that the new typeface seeks to add “signature visual cues to all communications”.

Santa’s Lapland’s new wordmark is also derived from Sámi letterforms and was designed with woodcut qualities in mind. Manchipp says that taking influence from the cultural traditions of the location is all part of a strategy to “raise the standards of the brand”.

The brand’s new pictograms and iconography are designed to work cohesively with the new typeface. They will appear across both physical and digital touchpoints to communicate with younger visitors who might not have strong reading ability.

Manchipp explains that the new brand voice now speaks about “the search for Santa, rather than [coming] from Santa”. Speaking on the previous tone of voice, he adds: “It was a little curious receiving flight times from the man in red”.

The rebrand also makes use of more traditional materials throughout following Santa’s Lapland’s commitment to increase its sustainability focus and “move away from the shiny plastic baubles of Christmas’s past”, say Manchipp.

The new TV ads were written by SomeOne and directed by Sorted.tv and will go live in a couple of weeks. Manchipp says that shooting the stills and film in temperatures of -20C “surrounded by Huskies and Reindeer” was both a new experience and a challenge. Someone also worked with LA-based studio Crafted on Santa’s Lapland’s new website.

The new branding will roll out across all physical and digital channels and will even feature on its airplanes.