Overview: Sonic Becords has a rich history in the Seattle music scene hosting small concerts in their shop, around the 90s during the grunge era brought many people to the unforgettable music that rose from it to Seattle, we want to still keep that energy for their rebrand.
Audience: Our audience includes the vinyl collector with a heavy collection to the newbie who is curious about new and old music age we aim to be as welcoming as we can and not exclude anyone from the ages range mainly 20-40 yrs.
Audience: Our audience includes the vinyl collector with a heavy collection to the newbie who is curious about new and old music age we aim to be as welcoming as we can and not exclude anyone from the ages range mainly 20-40 yrs.
Problem to Solve: Sonic Boom has been a staple of Seattle’s record store community since 1997 and could use a brand re-fresh to keep current within the competitive landscape. modernize Sonic Boom’s brand identity to set it apart from the heavy competition in the Seattle music scene.
Solution: With research of the city and the concept board I incorporated DIY elements into the brand in order to update the brand for today's audience.
Solution: With research of the city and the concept board I incorporated DIY elements into the brand in order to update the brand for today's audience.
The concept board pays homage to Seattle’s great music scene, known as the founding city of the Grunge era. Its cool, timeless impact on the music world has become a staple in Seattle and the music scene. From photographs of unforgettable musicians to the roar of the crowd, Sonic Boom Records welcomes all. While looking for elements to make this brand guide look consistent, I realized the importance of the mood board. Inspiration can come from small elements you see. I also wanted to keep a DIY feel to the logo and felt that hand drawing would achieve that effect.
While developing the tone and mood for the concept board, the keywords "authentic," "cool," and "timeless" were vital. The board is designed to be 20% cool, 20% authentic, and 60% timeless. Writing these words down helped capture the sensations and visual cues necessary to enhance the final concept board.
Logo
I did a few sketches of the logo, and the middle sketch was the one that felt closest to the mood of the rebrand. I used Illustrator to vectorize it. I wanted to keep that DIY feeling by not using an existing typeface, so I created it point by point in the program.
Following the brand guide it talks about how images and photography should be treated these rules should be used throughout social media or any media to follow the new brand look and keep it consistent. such as bold header styles using the typeface Zuume.
Here are a few spreads from the final brand guide that shows how it all came together, showcasing its application. For typography, I chose a typewriter font with two weights. The font is modern but still has that nostalgic effect. For color, I pulled from the concept board: the bold orange evokes youthful energy, while the green and teal pay homage to the Emerald State of Washington.