HouseFreqsRecordsDesignBlog

[billyedwardsbcu]

HouseFreqs : Reflection

Once i became involved with this brief, i knew it was something that would require ongoing development and adjustments, due to the nature of the online culture and the website, nothing would be set in stone. One thing that i did not plan on was the main deliverable being focused around Brand guidelines. As HouseFreqs is still a relatively young brand, i used this as a chance to strip down current elements of the identity to values and an ethos, this gave me the room to re-visualise the logo, type, and everything which supports them. Logo design is an element that can be tricky, but i have worked with it before, so was relatively confident when heading into the brief (already with a few rough ideas). What i learnt was that without sufficient research into current cultures, the audience and background of the sector, creating an image which stuck was not so straight-forward. This led me to going back to basics, and alongside my type module, this brief really allowed me to improve and fine tune my technical skills, particularly with pen and on Photoshop. 

This brief required a full assessment of Housefreqs goals, and this led me to creating a ‘brand and development guide’ to assist consistent promotion of the brand. This is an element i have not worked with before, so the research i did into that is something i will take away with me. I realised that alongside aesthetic, the thoughts which go into making a set of guidelines functional is just as important for their success.

[billyedwardsbcu]

HouseFreqs Creative Brief

Background:

Housefreqs is an online radio station, with the aim to deliver good quality, diverse dance music from around the world. It prides itself in diversity and taste, and represents the classic and the modern. Its foundations are already rooted in the online community, however, it is still in very early stages of development. While it is supported by a logo and colour palette, it is yet to define and apply a true, consistent, visual identity, and in the busy world of online concepts, branding and promotion, this is a key aspect of success.

Objectives: To evaluate the views and ethos of HouseFreqs, and visualise it through a powerful and recognisable identity which will hold its own in the online community. It should be portrayed in a professional but interesting manner, and be tied together with consistent elements which will work across platforms and media. A lot of the promotion for this radio station is presented through the DJs who are a part of it, so promotional media which can be used by these members of the brand must be considered.

Target Audience: Due to the age of the ‘House’ music genre, which can be dated back to around 1984/85, and HouseFreqs predominantly online presence, there little to no fanbase for it in the oldest sector of society. The demographic this brand will be aimed at does include members of the 30/40 year bracket, who over the last few years have adapted the online culture due to its growing prominence and neccessity in society, but when considering development and progression for the future of HouseFreqs, the main focus audience is people in their late teens and 20’s. This is due to a number of factors, statistically, people in this age bracket listen to dance and electronic music more than others, and they are also most connected and influenced with the online world.

Tone of voice: HouseFreqs likes to convey itself in a professional manner, but their is also a slight informality to the concept as a whole due to the ideas of fun and family that it connotes. This personal level of connection is something that should be carried forward within the identity, the overall visuals should be sleek and powerful, but not too much as this may create a militant and industrious tone, which does not suit the values they portray. The brand should be reflected in a welcoming way, by holding signs of interest and intricacy, it will attract a new audience.

Approaches: Focus on brand foundations and values to create a strong identity, this could consist of a logo, typeface and colour palette. This should then be developed further through experimenting with further promotional media, as well as researching how other online social tools can be applied to the brand.

Media: Predominantly digital media, however things such as physical promotional merchandise (screen print?) should considered, this would help connect with the demographic on a higher level.

Deliverables:

The primary elements will be the foundations of a new identity i.e a logo, palette, typeset and any other semiotic signifiers which may represent the brand. This may then be furthered with promotional web media such as banners, schedule posters and other functional imagery for the brand. A major aspect of Housefreqs is that the DJs will be promoting the brand through social media on a much larger scale than the company itself, so a method should be considered to assure that the DJs promote the brand correctly, perhaps this could be achieved through a ‘HouseFreqs Brand Guide.’

[housefreqsdesignblog]

Housefreqs brand guide

[billyedwardsbcu]

Revised thumbnails to support youtube uploads through HouseFreqs.

[billyedwardscreateblog]

Experimenting with negative space to assess if it is still perceivable as type.

[billyedwardsbcu]

[billyedwardsbcu]

[billyedwardsbcu]

HouseFreqs Guidelines

Primarily made to be referred to by the client, these guidelines will show the correct use of the logo, type and identity as a whole. It will also cover more intimate brand aspects such as explaining the company values, as well as showing the identity in function.

A rough section overview:

Logo

Typeface

Palette

Values

Web Media

Identity in Function

[housefreqsdesignblog]

HouseFreqs - Final Adjustments

After considering how my design looked on its own, i didn't feel it held strong enough visual presence, so i tightened the H to create equal gaps between the vertical lines, i also extended the crossbar of the F, and moved the dot so it fell into the corner of the grid (pictured in above post). I felt that this last modification really helped to tie the motif together, it still holds a typographic form, but also emphasises the links that can be made between this symbol and musical signature. Its overall denser appearance means that it will appear bolder in busy physical and digital areas.

[billyedwardsbcu]

 Sean Heisley - TBS Brand Guide

The visual concept itself for this brand is well considered, and the supporting text throughout these guidelines provides evidence of its reflection of the company and its work ethic. Explaining certain elements of an identity to the client and the public can help build a level of connection through understand, it presents the personal developments of the idea and the brand. Viewed through a single web page, this guide feels very fluid, and by including work created by members of TBS which has been a result of the designers logo, it shows the full journey of production from start to finish, and this really helps to put it all into context.

[billyedwardsbcu]

Lance Wyman - 1966 Olympics -Mexico68

Although the brand guide of this concept is now embodied in an online digital slideshow, it is diverse enough for the viewer to connect with the identity. It features sketches, finalised logos, fashion print photography, as well as this concepts influence on the architecture surrounding the olympic ground. Considering its time of creation, i think the designer took a risky but informed, approach to his process. Working with bold black line in such an optical way may have been hard to realise and communicate through the vast amount of promotion and merchandise which surrounds the olympics, but its relation to 60′s culture and trends means that it was received well by the public.

[billyedwardsbcu]

Brand Guidelines - Asana - Research

Asana have approached their guidelines with a soft aesthetic and intimate structure. They cover the fundamentals such as logo placement and colour, but they also go in depth about how their logo was created (which is based around the counter of the letter A), and provide company values, which are each supported by a meaningful description about how they link to the brand and a unique motif. As an overall research point, Asana show how simple but well considered key elements of brand guidelines such as composition, colour and type, combined with thoughtful information, create a guideline which consumers and designers will be able to connect with.

[billyedwardsbcu]

Simple promotion thumbnail for web use.

This was created to match the style of the current schedule images which i recently produced for social media. For an online radio station, having a strong collective of DJs involved with the brand is a fundamental for success, as these will essentially be the frontline of spreading promotion. So keeping a consistent and professional look throughout social media posts will help attract new members of the team.

[billyedwardsbcu]

RED AXES

This release artwork is for the producing duo ‘Red Axes’, they show bold use of semiotics to maintain a consistent identity throughout. Legibility and function are clearly main factors in their design, but it presents itself in quite a rebellious style. There are clear links to other eras of the music industry and this shows that the designer has assessed the ‘values’ of red Axes, and reflected them in way that a wide demographic can connect with.

[billyedwardsbcu]

My Live Brief : Overview

One of my three briefs for this module will be based around the online radio station that i am part of, ‘HouseFreqs’. They have recently launched a new part of the brand known as HouseFreqs Records, this will be focused more around track, EP and compilation releases of up and coming producers on the HouseFreqs label, as opposed to online radio sets. 

Develop a new visual identity for ‘HouseFreqs Records’ with an initial promotion campaign, and design store merchandise which reinforces this.

Being a relatively new concept, this is something which i feel has a lot of room for development, while there is some fundamentals to refer too such as their ethos, logo and colour scheme, i still consider this quite an open brief, as the new part of the brand can be portrayed with a unique identity. 

There will be a variety of possible outputs for this brief which is subject to change over time, things like web banners, logos, flyers and merchandise will be staple, however it could also extend other areas such as cover sleeve designs and digital thumbnails for releases. This will require a critical inspection of mark making and print methods, what existing method and skills can i apply to my designs and what can i further into new areas? I have signed up to the hot foil printing workshop the coming Friday so maybe this will be something i can experiment with, aswell as discussing with the print technician the practicalities of screen printing custom slip-mats, which is another element of this brief i am considering.

HouseFreqs Records want to express aptitude in diversity and culture, and portray themselves in a professional yet informal manner, this is to connect with the listeners on a personal level, an aspect which is supported through their tagline which refers to music being at the heart. These are values that i aim to develop through my branding for HouseFreqs Records, but i also want to expand on their identity with other relevant values, for instance, dexterity. 

[billyedwardsbcu]

Shots of some of the talks between me and the client for my Live Brief highlighting some of the issues which surround the promotion of a web based brand.

[billyedwardsbcu]

A visual mockup of how my current logo and type design would look on social media.