Behind Our Brand
Synaesthetic's brand identity started as a mood board nearly two years ago: a collage of images and pictures surrounding this idea of evoking the senses through dance. We had a color scheme, a typeface, and a theme—synesthesia. My job as the graphic designer was to turn these concepts into the organization's identity.
Because Synaesthetic's platforms are primarily digital, I aimed to design a logo that would effectively communicate our theme as simply as possible. I asked my colleagues for adjectives they would want our audience to associate with Synaesthetic. "Modern," "innovative," "stimulating," and "clean" were some of the more popular suggestions. We decided to target millennials—as the primary demographic of social media users—and members of the arts community. With these ideas in mind, I began the sketching process.
Two ideas that inspired me significantly in developing the logo were stained glass windows and color blocking. I tested some concepts using overlapping colors, mimicking the shape of a camera lens, and incorporating color-blocked figures, among other experiments. But ultimately, the simplest solution proved the most effective. The question behind this solution was: What if I were to make letters by sticking together colored pieces of tape? This was the result.
I limited the colors to the first three letters to highlight our theme. "Syn" in Synaesthetic—and in synesthesia—means "with" or "together," which paired with the Greek origin of "aesthetic" means "pertaining to sense perception." The golden rule of logos is to use one color when possible and three at most, but I chose to break that rule deliberately. Like synesthesia combines multiple senses, our logo combines multiple colors to form a cohesive whole. Our logo has the clean, modern quality that works well for digital platforms with a vibrant twist that highlights our theme and creativity. I changed the typeface to a sans serif to support these developments, selecting Open Sans for its adaptability and friendly appearance.
This logo forms the backbone of Synaesthetic's brand identity. It served as the spark for several of the photos we took, the website you are currently viewing, and all of the promotional materials created along the way. Whether incorporated in a film promo or on a poster, this identity helps materialize Synaesthetic's definition: to create a multimedia experience through movement that fuses the senses.
