"Brand is the thread that connects every part of an organisation together and shows what it stands for," says Tosh Hall, global chief creative officer at JKR. "For Blood Cancer United, that meant creating a brand united for all. That spirit now runs through everything, from the name to the design systems to the behaviours, building unity for the work it does and, most importantly, speaking to everyone touched by blood cancer."
But the sheer volume of variants we're seeing right now feels not only calculated to maximise sales (imagine that), but it's also diluting the aesthetic identity of individual album eras. Whereas the best album art of all time is immediately recognisable, I couldn't tell you what the cover for Life of a Showgirl actually looks like. Same goes for Sabrina Carpenter's new album - just days after the provocative original variant prompted outcry, came the bait-and-switch, as Carpenter revealed a several safer versions.
Colin Smight critiques traditional agencies for disconnect between concept and execution, where designers are distanced from clients, leading to confusing feedback loops.
In design research and cultural foraging, the team came across these amazing old fisherman crates with handwritten type. Milano carried this spirit with its variable nature spanning five fun widths from compressed to extended, giving us the flexibility to mix and match and create a playful system with a new energy that's also rooted in tradition.