ABOUT

We developed a unique identity for a unique recording facility

When we got a call from Professor Isabella van Elferen asking us to partner them creating the new brand for Kingston University we naturally obliged. On receipt of the brief, we soon realised this project was going to be special. Rarely do branding projects like this fall in to the laps of design agencies outside of London. Those of you who are in to music will no doubt know who Tony Visconti is. If you don’t then all you need to know is that he is one of the leading music producers of our time and is famous for his long term working relationship with David Bowie. He has also worked with T. Rex, Morrissey, Thin Lizzy, and the Kaiser Chiefs to name just a few.
In partnership with world-famous record producer Tony Visconti, the British Library, and the Science Museum, Kingston University London launched the Visconti Studio. With no brand or marketing collateral in place we were tasked with developing a brand and suite of marketing collateral and website in time for a September launch. Our brief was very loose, all we were told is that this brand can not be corporate and Tony Visconti insisted we used red as a primary colour. The boss had spoken!
We kicked the project off with the strategic process, understanding the target audiences and the personality Kingston University wanted to portray was fundamental to the project. A brand proposition was developed and this helped shape the visual direction. Our design team really went to town bringing this brand to life, we had a lot of fun and came up with many great ideas which Kingston University were blown away by. One concept hit the mark straight on the head, it was simple, bold, creative and more to the point exactly right for them. The Visconti Studio space is unique, not just in terms of Tony Visconti being a partner along with the British Library and the Science Museum but the architecture and interior of the studio is one of a kind.
The Visconti Studio is based around an extraordinary 300m2 octagonal live room where the talented musicians play and record. The octagon live room as a recording facility is unique to the Visconti Studio, so we decided to focus our design around this to form the identity. The icon for the logo is simple and bold, our positioning for typography echoes the position of the recording facility which looks into the octagon live room. We developed a brand pattern which was influenced by the pattern the ceiling beams formed within the live room, which in turn is where the sounds are played. It’s simple but effective.