Readers trust a familiar face, so a refresh has to keep what is familiar.
Newspapers, broadcasters and publishers live on trust built up over many years. Sinh Vũ helps the identity keep that standing while staying lean and clear for phone screens and sub-channels.
Three things come first: a mark that still reads at a very small size, a set of standards for every sub-channel and show, and a digital interface that works every day. Those three keep readers' trust as the content moves across many screens.
It is still recognizable when shrunk to a profile picture or an app icon, not just on the front page.
Each section, show and sub-channel has a place in the system, rather than becoming a brand of its own.
The news site, idents, transitions and book covers are built from one set of components.
All of them keep the public's trust, but readers meet each kind of organization in a different way, so what the identity must hold onto differs too.
Their customersReaders skim the news every day on their phones, on social media and on the home page.
Brand challengeA mark and an interface clear enough to recognize the paper at a glance, and steady enough to be trusted.
Their customersListeners and viewers meet the station through the dial, the channel list and show idents.
Brand challengeGive the station a face of its own among many similar channels, and a system for its sub-programs.
Their customersBook buyers, authors and distribution partners.
Brand challengeA publisher's look that is recognized on the spine and the cover, while each title keeps its own character.
These are the places where news and publishing organizations lose their audience's attachment, and where old credibility alone can't hold it.
The logo is built for the front-page masthead or the studio backdrop, and when shrunk to a profile picture it gets muddled or loses its edges.
Redraw the mark for several sizes, with a reduced version for small tiles and positive and negative versions for every ground.
Start from this problemEach desk and each show builds its own logo, and they don't read as one organization.
An identity architecture: the parent organization sets the rules, and sub-programs choose from the permitted set of components.
Start from this problemThe home page, article pages, app and newsletter each look different because they were made at different times.
Build one shared digital design system, so adding a section or a new page still fits.
Start from this problemEach show uses its own motion set, with no shared rhythm of the station.
A shared motion set for idents, subtitles and transitions, and each show adds its own color and title.
Start from this problemAt the See stage. Readers meet the content through a small news card on social media or a show tile in a list. If a glance doesn't tell them it comes from an organization they trust, they don't tap.
Touchpoints are the places where the public meets the organization every day. You don't need to do everything at once. These five decide most of whether the public recognizes and trusts you.
It appears at the smallest size and appears the most often.
It is where readers stay the longest.
Most younger people meet the organization here first.
They tell viewers they are in the right place, in every show.
For a publisher, this is the first touchpoint in the bookstore and on e-commerce platforms.
Listed in the order to do them. A large organization doesn't change everything at once: it does the mark and the standards first, then rolls them out channel by channel.
Refresh the mark, color and type while keeping what readers are used to.
A set of standards for every sub-channel, show and publication.
A digital design system for the news site, the app and the newsletter.
Idents, transitions and subtitles that share one rhythm.
When many desks work together: an operating system so the standards last.
Sinh Vũ has published three projects squarely in this segment: an online newspaper, a radio channel and a television station. Sinh Vũ has not published a publisher project.
2007ICTnews is the technology news site of Vietnam Post Newspaper, under the Ministry of Information and Communications. Sinh Vũ built the logo and the whole interface…
A paper has to be both steady and fast, so the mark uses a solid block of letters that holds up even shrunk to favicon size. The page system and the ad frame system were also built in from the start, so a small newsroom can still publish steadily.
2011JoyFM is the specialised health radio channel of Hanoi Radio and Television Station, broadcasting on FM 98.9 MHz. Sinh Vũ built the mark, the guideline system and the corporate profile…
A health channel easily slips into a clinic voice, so JoyFM settled on a position as warm as a friend before drawing anything. The mark has positive and negative versions, a minimum-size rule, and carries over to the operating company's documents.
Among hundreds of channels crowding onto one remote, this Hanoi television brand wanted to be remembered for warmth…
On the same remote control, a channel is mostly remembered by its number. HiTV took the greeting inside its own name as its anchor, so the station enters the home like an acquaintance.
The principles behind it
Keep what readers are used to, such as the name, the main color or the shape of the letters, and refresh the rest step by step. Announce it on the site in advance and test on small screens before switching over fully.
It needs to read at a very small size on a dial or an app, have positive and negative versions, and stand next to other channels' logos. A radio mark should suggest listening, not only looking.
Yes, but within the station's framework. A program can have its own name, accent color and title, while the layout, the type and the rhythm of motion follow the shared standards.
Fix the position of the publisher's name on the cover and the spine, use one typeface for series names, and keep a zone where each title's cover is free to be designed. That free zone is where each book gets its own character.
It does when the news site, the app, the newsletter and social media are made by several teams. A digital design system lets you add a section or a page without redrawing each place.
A few lines about your organization, your audience and what is holding you back is enough. Sinh Vũ reads and replies within one working day.