Sonos is a brand that's really come to prominence over the past few years, shifting from a technology brand that only audiophiles with fat wallets cared about, to a more mainstream audio brand that's become a go-to solution for anyone who wants decent quality music streaming. There's a good chance that you're listening to some kind of Sonos box in your studio right now.
Sonos' move to the mainstream began in 2011, and part of that process was a new brand identity created by Bruce Mau Design (BMD) that focused on the simple SONOS wordmark. Now, with more players in the wireless audio market and a need to reassert the Sonos brand, BMD has revisited Sonos' visual identity and given it a refresh that you're going to love.
Expanding on the original 2011 wordmark, BMD has come up with a flexible identity system based around three graphic tools that have been designed to be mixed and remixed to deliver a creative and variable language. The idea behind it is to reflect the rich diversity of the modern music experience; just as there's a multitude of ways in which you can set up and enjoy a Sonos system, there are any number of ways in which the Sonos identity can be remixed and expressed.
The cornerstone of the system is, of course, the Sonos wordmark; it's been left largely unchanged but can now be repeated over and over as a potentially infinite palindromic pattern. To that can be added a simple colour gradient – any colours you like.
The really eye-catching part of the system, though, is the third element: a sunburst effect that's been meticulously designed by BMD to do weird things to your eyes. It's made of tightly-packed lines of various widths and seems to generate dancing moiré patterns from simply looking at it; and then if you scroll it up and down the screen the patterns go absolutely insane. It's like being able to see sound waves pulsating out of your speakers.
We could look at the sunburst effect all day, and it's just part of a really impressive system that's already been put to a number of uses including a vivid NYC subway wrap and a Paris exhibition. Find out more about it over at BMD.
Words: Jim McCauley
Jim McCauley is a writer, editor and occasional podcaster, and is available for children's parties.
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