London arts venue gets a new identity with a musical twist.
(Image credit: Studio Suther&)
Getting your branding right is critical for getting your business noticed. A cool font, a contemporary colour palette and a unique twist are all essential ingredients to success and London-based arts and music venue Kings Place's new branding has all that and more.
Its unique twist is a logotype created using sound. The brand was brought to life by digital media artist Joe Pochciol and London design agency Studio Sutherl&, who were looking to bring the energy of Kings Place events and integrate that into the physical branding. And its an approach to logo design that we haven't seen before.
Our new identity @KingsPlace using sound generated graphics. Strategy @J_Marsh pic.twitter.com/xx2zsoUWf7December 3, 2019
How did they do it? Pochciol and Studio Sutherl& got together and built a bespoke software package for audio analysis, visualisation and rendering known as SoundWaveMachine. This generates a unique new logotype based on sound files.
The machine does this by producing the initial logotypes, which can be static or animated, then the soundwaves are manifested into a graphic that is overlaid onto the original logotype. To add a new level of uniqueness, the amplitude, gain and modulation can be tweaked to produce a further version of the original soundwave. All clever stuff. Fancy creating your own unique font? Then find out how in our guide to font design.
The SoundWaveMachine generates a unique new logotype based on any sound file (Image credit: Studio Suther&)
But before they could step in and create a logotype like no other Studio Sutherl& founder Jim Sutherland revealed that the first step was to bring "some rational and common identity to everything". A colour palette of red, combined with a bright pink was used to add energy. A contemporary font is crucial in branding and Champion Middleweight was combined with Neue Haas Grotesk, both included for "their modernity and boldness".
To show off the new logotype at launch, a flick-book was produced with an animated logotype based on a Bach Cello Suite in G Major Prelude piece (the first piece of music performed in the hall when it opened in 2008).
The beauty of the SoundWaveMachine is that bespoke sub brands can be created at will. So, whenever a new event or mini festival needs some new unique branding, it simply a matter of choosing a sound file from the event and calling upon the the SoundWaveMachine to work its magic.
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But it wasn't just events that got the bespoke treatment, every single member of staff got their own unique business card and email sign off. They all picked a track that had a connection to them and the venue and their very own bespoke design was theirs to enjoy forever.
Check out the Kings Place branding in action on the venue's website.
Steven Jenkins is a freelance content creator who has worked in the creative industry for over 20 years. The web and design are in his blood. He started out as a web designer before becoming the editor of Web Designer magazine and later net magazine. Loud guitars, AFC Bournemouth, Photoshop, CSS, and trying to save the world take up the rest of this time.
