Music
Beams by Only Studio
The Beams is ‘an expansive new venue and event space on the Royal Docks in the heart of East London’ (that’s as long as you prefer your cartography loosely impressionist). Manchester-based Only Studio was tasked with branding the former Tate & Lyle sugar factory. The award-winning agency has previous form in the field of London industrial-eyesores-turned-cultural-juggernauts: it was also responsible...
Philharmonie Luxembourg by NB Studio
It is fair to say that rebrands of music organisations, of which there have been a number in the past few years, have benefitted from the recent explosion of graphic design into the world of sound and motion. Music has always inspired other forms of art, but these new digital tools are uniquely suited for producing design solutions for these...
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano by Landor & Fitch
In the words of synesthete Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ‘music is liquid architecture; architecture is frozen music’. Unlike 19th-century architecture, contemporary graphic design is afforded no such static reprieve – it faces the challenge of animating the ‘universal language’. Whereas once the plastic arts could content themselves with merely freezing music, any contemporary attempt to visually translate music must now...
Nordoff & Robbins by Pentagram
For decades, Pentagram has been one of the most famous and renowned design consultancies in the world; but when it comes to the charity sphere, music therapy organisation Nordoff & Robbins is far less starry – it’s not, say an Oxfam, or an RSPCA, or Médecins Sans Frontières. Arguably that’s all the more reason for it to bring in the...
Sing King by Nomad
I’m going to break with a decade of convention and jump right in. I love this. I was sold as soon as I saw the logo, it’s in the BP&O Gallery. It’s rare you see this kind of logo today. It’s mostly, and understandably, logotypes that prevail today. Those that are striped down to function well on multiple devices. Blanding?...
NN North Sea Jazz Festival by Studio Dumbar/DEPT
After seeing Collins’ work for the San Francisco Symphony – a pioneering typographic and digital experiment with Swiss foundry Dinamo – I thought it would be some time before I’d be surprised by another visual identity in the music space. Sure, there’s an abundance of styles and artists to be inspired by within an art that has evolved in tandem...
San Francisco Symphony by Collins
Formed in 1911, while San Francisco was rapidly rebuilding after the devastating earthquake of 1906, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) has been serving audiences in the Bay Area and beyond for 111 years. In 2018, Esa-Pekka Salonen – a Finnish conductor and composer – was announced as the incoming musical director, with his tenure to start during the fall season...
Autex Acoustics by Marx Design
With manufacturing and sales teams throughout Australia, UK and the USA, Autex has grown to become the market leader in interior acoustic products in New Zealand, and the go to choice for leading architects aspiring to reduce the amount of atmospheric noise within cutting-edge residential and commercial spaces. Their products are innovative, produced in a variety of forms and colours,...
The Australian National Academy of Music 2020 Season by Studio Brave
The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) is dedicated to the artistic and professional development of young exceptional classical musicians. Working with ANAM for many years, Studio Brave have sought to help the institution evolve and grow their brand, with both drawing their inspiration from the energy and creativity of the students. To help position ANAM and its musicians on the...
AIR Studios by Spin
AIR Studios was founded in 1965 by Beatles producer Sir George Martin. It is located in London’s Lyndhurst Hall, a former church with one of the largest recording rooms in the world and a live space capable of holding a full symphony orchestra. Since its opening, it has hosted a plethora of world-class talent. These have included Sir Paul McCartney, Adele, The...
Strandgut – Vasas Flora Och Fauna by Bedow
Vasas Flora Och Fauna is a Finnish indie pop-group and trio of musicians. Their new album Strandgut is made up from eleven songs taken from the band’s first two albums, which were then re-recorded in German. This was released on both LP and CD by the record label Startracks. Swedish design studio Bedow worked with Vasas Flora Och Fauna to create...
Schubertíada Vilabertran by Mucho
Schubertíada is an annual festival run by Associació Franz Schubert that celebrates the works of the 19th-century Austrian Romantic composer Franz Schubert. This takes place in the Spanish municipality of Vilabertran in July. The festival includes a programme of chamber concerts, lied recitals, instrumental solos and lectures. Schubert is known, not just for his compositions, but for his contribution to Lieder; German poetry...