I think I’ve found my favourite visual identity of the year

One project that caught my eye this week is the design for The China Now Musical Festival, an annual series of events produced by the Bard College US-China Institute in partnership with the Central Conservatory of Music in Bejing. Bard College is a very classy bohemian arts-based college in New York, and its festival now has a classy design to match, courtesy of London agency Saboteur (who just won three Brand Impact Awards).

The goal of the project was to bring Chinese music to life for new audiences and the visual identity, which is called Musical Characters of China, uses calligraphy to showcase the expressive nature of Chinese music. “Words like 乐 (“music”), 连 (“link”), 聚 (“together”), and 动 (“movement”) emerge from the performers, making each word an integral part of the performance,” reads Saboteur’s project page.

“Calligraphy was the natural choice. Calligraphy is all about movement – the sweep of the brush is captured in the line. Calligraphy is a frozen moment,” says Paul Cardwell, co-founder of Saboteur.

We’ve seen several successful identities for musical programmes over the past few years. Design Bridge’s campaign for London Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony by COLLINS spring to mind. Like those rebrands, China Now’s new identity captures the movement of music, and the identity works beautifully across various touchpoints.

The typography is Granville for English and Noto Serif SC Light for Chinese and the colour palette is black and white, with imagery used to introduce colour.

The concept applies well to the festival’s website, as well as across social and via animation.

Saboteur created the identity for last year’s festival, and this year’s work builds upon that. What were the challenges in this project? “We had to indicate two cultures without resorting to clichés. And create a sense of dynamism and excitement in a static medium,” explains Paul.

Paul’s favourite touchpoint is the poster outside Carnegie Hall. “Just graphically the contrast between the the gold Beaux Arts frame and the B&W poster is so beautiful and tells the whole story without any need for elaboration. And when you think who else has appeared in these actual physical frames….everybody from Stravinsky to Sinatra, from Duke Ellington to Lady Gaga. Not bad company to keep.”

Overall I think this is a strong and striking idea that has been delivered beautifully. The feeling of movement really comes through and the work extends well across different touchpoints.

For more great visual identities, see our best rebrands of the decade series.