GORO Records by Ulrike Schwertberger

ゴロ GO RO visual identity

TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT COMPANY ... 02 STYLE RESEARCH ... 04 LOGO DESIGN ... 12 TYPOGRAPHY ... 18 GUIDELINES ... 22 REAL WORLD ... 26

ゴロレコード

GORO records

BRAND BRANDGUIDELINES GUIDELINES

ABOUTTYPOGRAPHY COMPANY

ABOUT

COMPANY Taking its name from the Japanese sound effect “gorogoro” (ゴロゴロ), referring to carefree laughter as well as the sound of thunder, GORO Records is already a big name in Japan’s indie music scene. In light of their expansion to the Western market, a new brand identity has been developed. The aim was to form a set of brand guidelines that can be used across a range of platform and media types.

ゴロ GO R O

022

スタイルリサーチ

STYLE research

BRAND BRANDGUIDELINES GUIDELINES

VISUAL STYLE

STYLETYPOGRAPHY RESEARCH

1. Type as decoration

At the beginning of my research, the first thing I did was to look at the graphic design used in Japanese advertising and editorial design. I did this in order to get specific examples for the colorful, modern look I had in mind for the brand design, and in the process I came across three characteristics which were found in various examples as well as the record labels I looked into.

Japanese graphic design often relies heavily on typography. Japanese letters are used as design elements, not just to convey information. Many designs incorporate large amounts of text and Japanese and Western texts and typefaces are often mixed.

044

BRAND GUIDELINES

STYLE RESEARCH

2. Hand-drawn style It is not unusual to find decorative elements in a hand-drawn stye, handwriting fonts or brushstrokes in Japanese graphic design. This adds a youthful playfulness to the visual style - something that GORO Records embodies as well.

BRAND GUIDELINES

STYLE RESEARCH

3. Bold colors In entertainment advertising, colors tend to be bold and saturated. Colors like these are also associated with imagery like Tokyoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neon lights at night and therefore fitting for the brand. Again, since the brand embodies a bold attitude, this design element becomes important as well.

BRAND GUIDELINES

STYLE RESEARCH

unBORDE unBORDE is a record label founded under Warner Music Japan in December 2010. The label’s concept at the foundation is “trendy” yet “edgy.” Currently the label has very characteristic 12 artists signed, such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and tofubeats. unBORDE will be GORO’s main competitor on the Western market for Japanese music. As this is a drastically changing industry and we are competing for a relatively small target group in the beginning, GORO will have to make an impact with an outstanding brand identity that sets the label apart from unBORDE while preserving a playful, recognizable look at the same time.

Moshi Moshi Moshi Moshi Records is a London-based independent record label. Alhough they do not specialize in Japanese music, the label takes its name from the Japanese telephone greeting “moshi moshi” and incorporates Japanese letters in its logo.

BRAND GUIDELINES

STYLE RESEARCH

Rhion & RCMR Rhion Records is an indie Japanese label specialized in the publication of 7inch singles. Ramen Curry Music Records (RCMR) is another Japanese record label which focuses on the pop and indie genres.

Uniqlo Though not a record label, clothing designer, manufacturer and retailer Uniqlo is worth mentioning as it is a Japanese brand well-known to Western consumers and uses Japanese typography as a design element in its logo. In Europe and the US, both the Western and Japanese version of the logo are used, even though most consumers wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be able to read the Japanese characters.

BRAND GUIDELINES

BOLD COLORS

STYLE RESEARCH

Logo analysis The elements I discovered during my research on Japanese visual style can clearly be found in the brand identities of the record labels as well. Therefore, these characteristics will be important in the brand design.

TYPE AS DECORATION

HAND-DRAWN STYLE

BRAND GUIDELINES

STYLE RESEARCH

Merchandise A look at the merchandise offered by the previously mentioned labels reveals a wide range of products, especially for the Japan-based labels. The playful, bold logos are especially suited for print on various articles and can also be used in different color schemes and hues, resulting in a broad sortiment of merchandise. Typical products include mugs, apparel, phone covers and stationary items.

ロゴデザイン

LOGO

DESIGN

BRAND BRANDGUIDELINES GUIDELINES

DESIGN IDEAS The elements I definitely wanted to include in the logo were the Japanese characters ゴ (go) and ロ(ro). They are part of the Katakana alphabet which has a distinct look with more straight lines than the Hiragana alphabet. One inital idea was to incorporate a play on words in the logo by including the numbers “5” and “6”, since two possible Japanese readings would be “go” and “ro”. However, the idea was dismissed because it would not be understood by Western consumers. Another initial design idea was thunder and lightning since these are associated with the “goro goro” onomatopoeia.

LOGO TYPOGRAPHY DESIGN

ゴ + ロ GO + RO 5

+ 6 ?

BRAND GUIDELINES

LOGO DESIGN

Sketches Some early sketches using the idea of thunder and llightning.

BRAND GUIDELINES

LOGO DESIGN

Sketches

BRAND GUIDELINES

LOGO DESIGN

Final logo design The final design is a rather simple combination of the two Japanese letters. The hand-drawn component of the logo are the letters as well as the square border which is inspired by the look of Japanese calligraphy. However, playful elements such as patterns can easily be incorporated in the square design (see “Logo variations”). The logo typeface is Gotham Rounded which compliments the heading typeface for the brand (Miso) very well as it is a rounded slab sans serif as well, but wider and therefore better suited for the logo shape.

ゴロ GORO 2

BRAND GUIDELINES

LOGO DESIGN

Logo variations

ゴゴゴロロロ GOR O

GO RO GO RO

ゴゴゴロロロ GOR O GO RO GO RO

タイポグラフィ

TYPO GRAPHY

BRAND BRANDGUIDELINES GUIDELINES

For headings, the typeface is “Miso Bold” in capital letters. Miso is an architectural lettering font which compliments the rounded edges in the logo and is well-suited for headings because of its narrow design. If a publication is written in Japanese language, the preferred typeface is “HCP Marui”, a rounded typeface with a slab look that compliments the logo. Sub-headings are to be formatted using the “Jiyucho” type in capital letters. This typeface was specifically chosen for its playful, handwritten signing pen look. Furthermore, this is a Japanese font with all characters available, which might be useful in multilangual publications. For text, the “Yu Gothic” typefamily was chosen in the light and bold variations. Again, this is a standard Japanese font which is also highly readable because of its small letter faces and references Japanese calligraphy with

TYPOGRAPHY TYPOGRAPHY

ABCDEFGHI 0123 .!?/# ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890 -!@#$%^&*()_+{}

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890

-!@#$%^&*()_+{}

BRAND GUIDELINES

LOREM IPSUM DOLOR Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua.

TYPOGRAPHY

WESTERN

PUBLICATIONS

BRAND GUIDELINES

JAPANESE

PUBLICATIONS

TYPOGRAPHY

自己が描いますのはけとうてい嘉納さんで妨害懐手まだ意味になっあり世界中どん! すでにともかくはひょろひょろ理といういなので、あなたがは場合上まであなたのご注文はよろしゅうなっくれたあり。

ガイドライン

GUIDE

lines

BRAND BRANDGUIDELINES GUIDELINES

TYPOGRAPHY GUIDELINES

ゴロ

Logo specifications The logo typeface is Gotham Rounded. It gives a soft feel and an interesting contrast to the handwritten Japanese letters and the harsh brushstroke. Note that the logo requires sufficient space to other objects as it is a bold and eye-catching element.

0.4A

GORO

BRAND GUIDELINES

GUIDELINES

Colour scheme #D7345A

HEX

214,52,89

RGB

11,94,55,1

#000000

HEX

0,0,0

RGB

91,79,62,97

# EA8918

HEX

234,137,24

RGB

5,94,95,0

#F1F9EA

HEX

241,249,234

RGB

8,0,12,0

CMYK

70% 50% 30%

#FFFFFF

HEX

255,255,255

RGB

0,0,0,0

CMYK

BRAND GUIDELINES

GUIDELINES

✓

ゴゴゴロロロ

GO R O GO R O Normal specifications

Font too close to logo

GOR O Use of other font

ゴゴゴロロロ GORO

ゴゴゴロロロ

GO R O GO R O

ゴゴゴロロロ GORO

Do’s & Don’ts

GO R O GO R O

This page provides some basic examples on what to avoid when using the logo. Please follow these guidelines to ensure a consistent brand identity.

Placing other colours than corporate colours into the logo

GO RO GO R O

GOR O

Border other than the brushstroke

Distortion

リアルワールド

REAL

WORLD

BRAND GUIDELINES

CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES

Logo on different materials

The logo can be used on a wide range of materials such as emblems or stickers because emphasis has been put on simplicity and readability.

BRAND GUIDELINES

CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES

Stationary The bright colours in combination with an overall reduced design for the stationary items will keep the overall impression of the brand fresh as well as professional-looking.

BRAND GUIDELINES

CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES

Merchandise

BRAND GUIDELINES

CONTEXTUAL EXAMPLES

Street sign This example illustrates how the logo can easily be used in a street sign for GORO Recordsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; London branch.

BRAND GUIDELINES

REFERENCES

References LOGO - Pixeden STICKERS - GraphicsFuel STATIONARY - GraphicsFuel TOTE BAG - GraphicBurger DISK SLEEVE - Pixeden STREET SIGN - GraphicsFuel

Permission has been given to use these resources for any number of personal and commercial projects.

ゴロ GOR O

visual identity

ulrike schwertberger c7166292 11/2015