Maloja Brand Guidelines: Soul in the Woods

Maloja makes colourful, artistic bike and ski kit.

Maloja is a lesson in art as the brand. Founded in 2004 by Klaus Haas and Peter Räuber in Rimsting, Upper Bavaria — on Lake Chiemsee, at the foot of the Alps — the brand takes its name from the Swiss Alpine village of Maloja and makes apparel across mountain biking, cross-country and alpine skiing, trail running and outdoor lifestyle.

Its brand identity is colourful, artistic and alpine — “modern and tradition imaginatively united,” with painterly, illustrated, multicoloured designs that stand apart from the unisex-black norm. It works in seasonal themes (“new year, new theme” — eighteen distinct collections and counting), under the ethos “People first, brand second” and “Soul in the woods,” with artist collaborations.

(Honest notes: the two founders are Klaus Haas and Peter Räuber — not siblings, and not both “Haas.” Maloja is a German brand; only its name is Swiss. It’s independent and privately held, with its own manufacturing in Bulgaria. And there’s no official brand hex, so the tones here are an unofficial interpretation.)

Maloja lives in a colourful alpine palette. Click a swatch to copy the hex.

Maloja’s identity is colourful, artistic and warm — an ink, an alpine red, a meadow green, an ochre, and a cream. The palette leans on an alpine red with a meadow green and ochre — the register of painterly, folk-tinged alpine design. It signals art, nature and imagination rather than technical minimalism. The honest caveat: with no published brand hex, these tones are an original, unofficial interpretation, not first-party values.

The lesson is a warm, multicoloured palette signals an artistic brand. Maloja’s world is an illustrated alpine landscape. For designers, it is a reminder that an alpine red with meadow green and ochre reads as artistic and warm — right for a painterly, theme-led brand. The takeaways: embrace colour and pattern; lean warm and earthy; and treat any single hex as unofficial — using ink for small text so the palette stays artistic.

The register is a characterful serif — artistic and warm.

Maloja’s identity carries a colourful, artistic, warm spirit — painterly designs and seasonal themes. A characterful serif captures the mood: it is expressive and human, the register of a craft, art-led brand. Set in a colourful alpine palette, the characterful serif feels artistic and warm — exactly the personality Maloja carries. It is expressive rather than clinical, mirroring illustrated collections. (Maloja’s real wordmark is a trademark we describe but do not reproduce, and the exact brand typeface is not ours to use.) Because the mark is not ours to use, the honest description is “a characterful serif spirit,” shown here in a stand-in. The type behaves like the brand: colourful, artistic and warm.

Maloja stands for artistic, theme-led alpine design.

Maloja is a lesson in making art the identity. A colourful palette, painterly designs and a seasonal-theme rhythm make artistry the whole brand — colourful, alpine, imaginative. The art is the differentiator. The differentiator is an artistic, colourful, theme-led identity.

For designers and brand-builders, Maloja offers a clear takeaway: a point of view can be a brand. The lessons: pick a distinctive aesthetic (painterly, multicoloured, folk-tinged); give it a rhythm (a new theme each year); and root it in values (“People first, brand second,” “Soul in the woods,” its own Bulgarian factory under amfori BSCI). It is also a reminder to stay accurate: its founders are Klaus Haas and Peter Räuber (not siblings), it’s a German brand with a Swiss name, and the palette here is an unofficial interpretation. Maloja made art the brand — proof that a point of view can be the difference.

Keep Maloja’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.