Brand Identity: Globe-Trotter by Ragged Edge

Ragged Edge crafts a character-led brand identity for British luggage maker Globe-Trotter, reviving its 1897 North Star crest and typography.

Luxury branding has a sameness problem. Over the last decade, heritage houses kept stripping away their quirks in favor of flat geometric sans-serifs and polite minimalism. Founded in 1897, British luggage maker Globe-Trotter needed a different route when partnering with new owners Oakley Capital and London studio Ragged Edge. Instead of competing on slick tech gimmicks or surface-level status, the team doubled down on eccentric British character. These handmade vulcanised fibreboard cases aren't precious museum pieces. They're built to get scuffed, sticker-covered, and hauled across continents for a lifetime or two.

Archival North Star Craft in the Globe-Trotter Brand Identity

The logo goes straight to the archives. Ragged Edge recrafted the idiosyncrasies of the original nineteenth-century lettering and locked the wide, flared uppercase wordmark around a faceted four-pointed North Star compass in place of a standard hyphen. In Illustrator, those beveled star planes also anchor an arched window crest where GLOBE•TROTTER curves above ENG and 1897, as well as a deep blind-debossed impression pressed into fibrous off-white cotton paper stock. Alongside the mark, the verbal direction channels the dry wit of vintage British travel advertising through a sharp serif pairing that flips between upright roman and lively italic cuts.

Every touchpoint feels lived-in. On the Summer 26 issue of the Globe-Trotter Journal laid out in InDesign, a sage-green cover with yellow loop-stitched spine binding frames the masthead and the headline "Go your own way" above pastel leather-cornered trunks from the Tyler, the Creator collaboration open to a custom leopard-print lining. Other layouts pair the roman-and-italic line "Accessory to adventure" against a cobalt-blue case with black leather corners and silver rivets, or set "Accompanying the well-travelled for 128 years and counting." above an ivory trunk covered in hotel labels from Tangier and Villars Palace — right down to the Paris flagship storefront with its brushed-brass signage, emerald-green interior, and papier-mâché elephant.

See more from Ragged Edge and explore the full project on their official website.