HUUK Vape Brand Upgrade: A Wordmark Written Like Street Graffiti

A wordmark written like street graffiti

In 2024, Xinming Design upgraded HUUK, a cross border e-commerce vape brand of 深圳伦邦科技有限公司. The new logo is a handwritten wordmark in the style of street graffiti: HUUK written as if with a quick stroke of a marker, leaning to the right, the crossbar of the H running on into two lowercase u letters, and the K written largest, its last stroke stretched long. Below it, the brand line LIGHT UP POSSIBILITIES is set in a slender serif. Two main colours, purple and orange red, with light grey, dark grey and black, carry the identity to social media pages, packaging bags, hoodies, tote bags, a roller shutter storefront and street posters.

A vape brand for overseas markets

HUUK is the vape brand of 深圳伦邦科技有限公司 (SHENZHEN LONPPON TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD). Its products include e-liquids, vape devices and merchandise, sold mainly to overseas markets through cross border e-commerce. The brand line is Light Up Possibilities. The HUUK website carries the warning: this product contains nicotine; nicotine is an addictive chemical.

The brand already had a logo. The upgrade had to answer: on overseas e-commerce pages, on social media and in the street, how can the brand name itself be recognised, with an attitude of its own?

From letters to graffiti

The design did not choose a neat geometric wordmark; it wrote the name as a single piece of street graffiti:

· H: the first upright stands tall, and the crossbar does not stop in the middle but runs on to the right;

· UU: two lowercase u letters follow the crossbar of the H in one continuous stroke, as if the marker never left the wall;

· K: written largest, its last diagonal stroke stretched long to close the word;

· Slant: every stroke leans to the right, carrying the speed of writing.

The design notes put it this way: handwritten letterforms in the style of street graffiti create a youthful, free, fashionable and unconventional brand atmosphere, letting the wordmark speak for the brand directly and helping it travel and be remembered.

Below the wordmark, LIGHT UP POSSIBILITIES is set in a slender serif: one bold and one fine, one fast and one still. The design sets construction drawings and proportions for the wordmark and the line.

Purple and orange red

The design sets five colours:

· Purple (#5A27D6): CMYK 82 / 81 / 0 / 0, defined in the proposal as youthful, fashionable, unique and innovative;

· Orange red (#FF4D00): CMYK 0 / 82 / 93 / 0, defined as passionate, confident, free and energetic;

· Light grey (#D2D2D2): CMYK 21 / 16 / 15 / 0;

· Dark grey (#4D4D4D): CMYK 74 / 67 / 64 / 23;

· Black (#000000): CMYK 93 / 88 / 89 / 80.

Purple and orange are a strong clash of colours. The wordmark can be reversed out of purple or orange, written in black on white, or set in purple or orange on the other colour.

From phone screens to the street

Social media

· Vertical phone pages: on purple or orange, large condensed type sets short lines such as BREAK THROUGH TRADITION AND IGNITE THE FUTURE, KNOWLEDGE, and Harmony, Uniqueness, Unlimited, Knowledge, with the wordmark and LIGHT UP POSSIBILITIES below

Packaging and merchandise

· Black carrier bag: a silver wordmark, with LIGHT UP POSSIBILITIES · Harmony · Uniqueness along the bottom

· Black hoodie: a large silver wordmark and brand line on the back

· Black tote bag: a white wordmark

· Packaging sketch: a line drawing of the e-liquid bottle with the wordmark

Storefront and street

· Roller shutter: a single large white wordmark across a purple roller shutter

· Street poster wall: black and white portrait posters, a HARMONY / UNIQUENESS / HUUK / UNLIMITED type poster, and a set of round and strip stickers in purple, orange and grey

The application images on this page are proposal mock-ups; the people shown are stock imagery.

Deliverables and extensions

Logo design

· HUUK graffiti wordmark

· Wordmark with the brand line LIGHT UP POSSIBILITIES

· Construction drawings and proportions

Core identity

· Colours: purple, orange red, light grey, dark grey, black

· Use of the wordmark on purple, orange, white and black

· Brand keywords: Harmony, Uniqueness, Unlimited, Knowledge

Applications

· Social media: vertical phone pages

· Packaging and merchandise: carrier bag, hoodie, tote bag, packaging sketch

· Storefront and street: roller shutter, street posters, stickers

Looking back

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Let the name speak for itself. No separate symbol; writing HUUK as a single piece of graffiti turns the name into the logo.

2. One continuous stroke is easier to remember than four letters. The crossbar of the H runs into the two u letters and the K closes the word, so four letters become one gesture.

3. Two colours are enough. The clash of purple and orange makes the wordmark recognisable at a glance on e-commerce pages, phone screens and in the street.

A brand wordmark works best when it looks as if someone has just written it on a wall.

How to verify

· Client: 深圳伦邦科技有限公司 (SHENZHEN LONPPON TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD)

· Brand: HUUK (HUUK VAPE)

· Website: www.huuk.com

· Year: 2024

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3267.html

Further reading

· GLIRST Phone Accessories Brand Upgrade: Two Gs That Form One Circle (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3168.html)

· SUNORSHOP Womenswear Brand Upgrade: A Sun Held Inside the Letter S (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3172.html)

· DAILY FIT Gym Brand and Interior Design: Letters That Sprint Forward, a Flame That Burns (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3198.html)

FAQ

Who designed the HUUK logo?

The logo upgrade and visual identity of HUUK were designed by Xinming Design in 2024 for 深圳伦邦科技有限公司 (SHENZHEN LONPPON TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD).

What is special about the HUUK logo?

It is a handwritten wordmark in the style of street graffiti: leaning to the right, the crossbar of the H running on into two lowercase u letters, the K written largest with its last stroke stretched long, and LIGHT UP POSSIBILITIES in a slender serif below.

Why the graffiti style?

The design notes explain that handwritten letterforms in the style of street graffiti create a youthful, free, fashionable and unconventional brand atmosphere, letting the wordmark speak for the brand directly and helping it travel and be remembered.

What are the HUUK brand colours?

Purple (#5A27D6), orange red (#FF4D00), light grey (#D2D2D2), dark grey (#4D4D4D) and black (#000000).

What did the project include?

The wordmark and brand line lockup, construction drawings, a five colour palette, brand keywords, and applications including social media pages, a carrier bag, a hoodie, a tote bag, a packaging sketch, a roller shutter storefront, street posters and stickers.

Which brands can learn from this case?

Cross border e-commerce brands selling to overseas markets; consumer brands that want the brand name itself to be the logo, with a distinct style; and brands that need consistent recognition across e-commerce pages, social media and physical materials.

Xinming Design is a brand systems design firm. Its work centres on systematic judgment, turning brand strategy into structures that can run and be inherited. www.xinming.sg