Choral Arts
Washington D.C.’s premier choral organization, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, lacked an identifying logo and the dual names — Choral Arts and The Choral Arts Society of Washington — caused audience confusion. Influenced by their new tagline — Awaken Your World — and many fruitful conversations with the client, I created an identity that expresses the all-encompassing joy and emotion that the Choral Arts conductor and chorus bring to every performance.
It began with research into the visualization of sound. I discovered an instrument that uses frequencies to create illustrations, the harmonograph. The mark created by a Major Sixth chord happens to not only represent the C and A notes, but also visually look like a C and A as if they were drawn in the air with a conductor’s baton.
The harmonograph mark was one of many visual concepts I created to tease out how we could visualize the brand story. Should the variety of people, performances, and experiences be key? Or the power of the music to reach even the back of the concert hall? In the end we decided the “Major Sixth” version was the most powerful way to tell the story.
After the logo was finalized I turned to color. Drawing from a range of awe-inspiring skies I created a series of gradient marks that each told their own tale of awakening.
The final gradient drawn from the dawn starts with a bright coral which then blends through reds and purples before landing on a deep blue.
In advertising and collateral materials I introduced the new brand to the Washington D.C. audience.
The interwoven “Major Sixth” mark illustrates the enveloping sound one experiences at a Choral Arts event.
We launched the brand with a series of teaser social posts that introduced the gradient using emotive images of nature. On the launch day, we flipped the switch and premiered the brand with a new website. Unfortunately, due to the arrival of Covid-19, instead of introducing the brand during a performance at the Kennedy Center we pivoted to an online event to showcase the new brand messaging and visuals to a receptive audience.
