The Musicks in Japan
 Hello, We're the Musicks. You can hear our podcast by clicking through the image.
Since 2007, The Musicks have lived in central Japan's Aichi prefecture as permanent residents separately pursuing careers in Writing and Psychology. The couple publishes a weekly podcast with various blog content that focuses on life, culture, wellness, and mental health in Japan; often in contrast to life in America.
The brief was to design a logo that would help establish their identity online. The most challenging part was devising something that could accommodate the long title "The Musicks in Japan", could be easily implemented on merchandise, and could be easily associated with Japanese content at a distance while all remaining very slick, but homely. Through this project, I became more sensitive to the economy of space, organization, and necessary practice hand-lettered calligraphy demands. As my awareness of these things deepen, my work for the Musicks has also grown beyond simple logo making to branding. Vertical Divider
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Process:
Consultation > Research > Concept Sketches > Selection #1 > Drafting > Selection #2 > Finalization > Review > Delivery Approx. Completion time: 2 weeks Tools:
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Sketchbook
CandidatesThrough the sketches above, I refined some candidates that would work best in a tight lockup that would be best suited for merchandising and fit the necessary platform requirements in which the podcast would be hosted.
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CalligraphyWe decided to do a custom hand lettered font based off a combination of typefaces represented in number 3 of the candidates page. After drafting in ink, I refined the image in Illustrator, eventually turning the text into a transparent mask as seen via the sketch in candidate C.
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Final Render
After tracing the inked draft in the above image with the pen tool in Photoshop, I was later able to adjust the characteristics for each letter accordingly. We wanted to maintain some of the unique characteristics of the hand-drawn logo, so we kept some obtuse curvature and sharper termination points to help sell the idea of cut paper.
Podcast Image Library
Upon the completion of the finalized logo, it was suggested that the Musicks' weekly podcast be accompanied with some culturally resonate imagery that would expand their brand identity. So, I thought it best to use this opportunity to engage audiences in the work by selecting concepts topical to the current events surrounding the release of each individual episode. I.e, should an episode debut in the week of a national holiday, trendy cultural event, etc. that image would be depicted via Instagram upon the release of the episode. Check out some examples below.
The Musicks on the Web & Beyond...
After my completion of the original logo, it was quite clear that the Musicks needed a unified image across their social media platforms. Therefore, I suggested deconstructing the logo to utilize the near universal horizontal formats of various SMS banners.
