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Project two Redesigning a brand
Photoshop/Illustrator
Winning rebrands
The Heart FM rebrand has been an ongoing project for the team at BB/Saunders. Kate Evans reveals their logo design tips for a winning revamp Warren Beeby, creative director and founding partner of BB/Saunders, describes their branding process as ‘inside out’. “This means you need to get very close to the centre of what a brand’s about: its values, how the people see what they do, why they do it, who they do it for, and the principles that govern it.” In short, without understanding who a company is and its place in the market, you can’t create a brand that really represents them. The Heart FM team had already done some positional research before BB/Saunders pitched to them. It wanted the station to be more contemporary, but to maintain its ‘feel good’ image – to be about those moments where you think, “I love that tune”. It was important not to come across as too modern, or challenging to listen to – like a dance radio station – and to preserve its warm, friendly perception with its slightly female-biased listenership. The old logo was considered to lack individuality, and needed an element of which they could take ownership. “We worked on this project from conception right through to delivery,” says Beeby. “Radio is a non-visual format, and its marketing tends to work to a set formula. Heart needed an identity that could work everywhere, from its club nights, to shows for relaxing with on a hot summer’s day.”
Kate Evans Editor of Computer Arts Projects, Evans has worked in magazine publishing for seven years. This month she spoke to the BB/ Saunders team about their recent branding work. www.computer arts.co.uk
Skills Understand the market positioning of a brand Redesign and revamp a logo Work with marketing teams on a variety of promotions
Computer Arts Projects _February 2009
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When BB/Saunders was invited to pitch to Heart FM, the logo consisted of a blocky font on a stacked red and blue background in solid colours. “It looked like lots of other logotypes, in two blocks with two bits of information,” Beeby explains. “They wanted to look more relevant, exciting and aspirational – to be more of a contemporary brand. The key words were ‘uplifting, connected and contemporary’.”
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Beeby’s early concepts for the new logo were sketched out. The first ideas revolved around being at the heart of a city, but while a heart-shaped logo was the obvious choice, “Our initial thought was that we shouldn’t use a heart, as Kiss FM had one in their logo”, Beeby reveals. While looking for a way the station could take ownership of its logomark, the idea for a distinctive-looking heart icon came about.
www.computerarts.co.uk
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