Case studies: what’s new
Yonex
Branding and communications agency Monopo London is behind a fresh identity for badminton brand Yonex’s Arcsaber 11, a racquet that has garnered a cult following. Animated clips aim to replicate the feeling of hitting a shuttlecock, while referencing the brand’s shuttle-hold technology, in which the strings wrap around the shuttlecock for a microsecond upon impact. The team created a dotted pattern as an abstract of the string bed, with the animation demonstrating the dots connecting to reflect the shuttlecock’s impact. Arrow and target-inspired symbols also feature to communicate the racquet’s unique sense of control.
Dice
Cultural entities are also using psychophysical branding to communicate the emotional and physical reactions that people experience around music, art or theatre. Ticketing platform Dice recently developed a new identity inspired by the energy of fan culture. Alongside a new word mark and mascot, a fresh set of bright, colourful visuals were also designed. These are described by Dice’s in-house design team as ‘vibrations’ and are said to represent the energy of fans at a live show. ‘What we’ve landed on recognises the vibrancy of our fan community as well as the visceral emotion and feeling of togetherness that makes people return to live events again and again,’ says Patrick Duffy, executive creative director at Dice.
Otherlands
Similarly, Otherlands Festival in Scotland has unveiled a new identity based on the notion of ‘frisson’ – the psychophysical response to excitement. Designed by London-based Studio Nari, the branding was born from extensive preliminary research among festival-goers. The team asked people what they felt when they were at festivals and how they could explain that feeling in words. Respondents cited feelings such as ‘getting chills’, ‘goosebumps’ or ‘a feeling of sudden emotional excitement’.
