Reframing a South London Heritage Brand

Osborn’s Glaziers, South Norwood

Osborn’s has been part of South Norwood High Street since 1956. A family business rooted in craft, precision and reliability — a working presence woven into the everyday life of the street. When we were invited to reframe the brand, the brief was not about reinvention, but about refinement: how to evolve a heritage glazing company into a contemporary identity without losing its character, trust and history.

This became a project about continuity, restraint and design integrity.

British Post-War Influence

The visual language for Osborn’s draws directly from British post-war design culture — a period shaped by utility, reconstruction and social purpose. Design in this era was not ornamental; it was functional, honest and human. Influences came from:

• The clarity of post-war British typography

• The sculptural restraint of post-war British public art

• The visual discipline of industrial modernism

This lineage informed an identity that feels useful, enduring and quietly confident — not stylised, not nostalgic, and never decorative.

Typography as Architecture

At the centre of the identity sits Akzidenz-Grotesk Next, in Regular and Light weights.
A typeface with deep modernist and post-war roots, it brings:

• Clarity

• Neutral authority

• Timeless legibility

• Architectural restraint

It allows the name Osborn’s to carry the brand — not through embellishment, but through proportion, spacing and balance. The centred “I” detail within the O becomes a subtle structural gesture, echoing alignment, craft and construction logic rather than graphic decoration.

Typography here becomes structure — not styling.

Colour as Material Language

The selected palette is drawn from post-war utilitarian colour systems, where pigment was practical, durable and restrained.

The identity colours:

• Olive Green — grounded, industrial, stable

• Putty — soft, architectural, neutral

These colours reference machinery, tools, uniforms, workshops and working environments — not trend palettes. They are calm, confident and functional, designed to perform across:

• Signage

• Vehicles

• Uniforms

• Digital platforms

• Building applications

• Website environments

Colour becomes a material — not a graphic effect.

Craft, Not Cosmetics

The Osborn’s identity is not brand theatre. It is brand clarity.

Every element is designed to communicate:

• Reliability

• Precision

• Longevity

• Trust

• Craft

The work extends across:

• Branding & visual identity

• Typography systems

• Colour architecture

• Website design

• Tone of voice

• Building signage

• Digital and physical applications

The result is an identity that feels established, credible and contemporary — without losing the DNA of a business that has served its community for nearly 70 years.

A Modern Identity for a Heritage Business

Osborn’s doesn’t need to look new.
It needs to look right.

This project reflects REAFE STUDIO’s belief that the strongest identities are not built through novelty — but through clarity, proportion, restraint and intelligence.

A heritage business reframed through modernist principles.
A local brand elevated through design discipline.
A contemporary identity grounded in British design history.

Quiet.
Confident.
Enduring.