When São Paulo-based studio Polar was tasked with rebranding one of Brazil’s most important cultural institutions – the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo Symphony Orchestra), better known as OSESP – its solution was an identity system that doesn’t just depict classical music but actively embody it. OSESP’s previous identity had served it well, with its 2003-2007...
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...
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...
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...
Konserthuset Stockholm is home to the internationally recognised Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and is described as one of Sweden’s most famous and important cultural institutions. Graphic design studio Kurppa Hosk worked with the institution to create a brand identity that would integrate the corporate aspect of venue, one of iconic status and significant cultural legacy, with the passion and dynamism of the...
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is a 102 strong ensemble, currently led by chief conductor John Storgårds, with its primary venue being the Helsinki Music Centre. It has a significant history, beginning as the Helsinki Orchestral Society in 1882 and acquiring its current name following a merger with the Helsinki Symphony Orchestra in 1914. In 2016 the orchestra will have its first female chief conductor following...
Hardpop is an electronic music venue located in the Mexican city of Juárez. It plays host to both international and national DJ’s and has been acknowledged twice by DJ Magazine as one of the best clubs in the world. Hardpop’s brand identity, a contemporary interpretation of military insignia, and a mix of conventional and unconventional typographic forms created by graphic design...