Music is heard and art is seen; the brand is the part people take home.
Fans want something to hold, to hang, to keep. Sinh Vũ gives artists, record labels and galleries one consistent look, from the album cover to the concert ticket.
Three things come first: a visual motif tied to the work, a set of materials for every release, and merchandise for fans to take home. Those three help listeners and viewers remember the artist across many projects, not just one song.
One image and a few colors distinctive enough to be recognized across many works.
The album or record cover, the poster and the ticket share one spirit, while each project keeps its own character.
Lyric books, shirts, tote bags and small printed pieces for listeners to keep after the concert.
They all make art, but their audiences and the way those audiences attach to them differ, so the look needs to differ too.
Their customersListeners follow an artist's personality and each project.
Brand challengeKeep one consistent taste across many albums, while each album still has its own character.
Their customersArtists who want to sign, and listeners who trust the label's selective taste.
Brand challengeA label brand clear enough that new artists see themselves in it, without overshadowing any one artist.
Their customersArt lovers, collectors and artists who want to exhibit.
Brand challengeA look quiet enough to let the works speak, yet still recognizable as this space's.
These are the places where artists lose listeners, and where talent alone can't save them.
A new album cover changes everything, and longtime followers struggle to recognize it as a product of the same person.
Keep a few things fixed, such as the palette, the type or the way titles are set, and let each album change the rest.
Start from this problemMusic is heard on phones, so the cover is made only as a square file, and a fan who wants to keep something has nothing to hold.
Design the digital and print editions together, with a lyric book or a small printed piece as a gift for early buyers.
Start from this problemThe poster looks great up close, but out on the street nobody has time to read the date, the time and the venue.
Make two versions: the street version keeps only the date, time, venue and artist name, and the indoor version keeps the artwork.
Start from this problemShirts and tote bags carry a small logo on flimsy material, and buyers use them once and throw them away.
Choose fewer items, but ones worth keeping, built from the same motif as the album cover and the ticket.
Start from this problemAt the See stage. Listeners meet a work for the first time through a small cover image in a music app. If the cover can't convey personality, they listen to one song and forget it.
Touchpoints are the places where listeners and viewers see the artist. You don't need to do everything at once. These five decide most of whether an artist is remembered across many projects.
It is the face of the whole project, on every platform and on the shelf.
It is what the audience sees before the concert and keeps afterward.
It gives attentive listeners something to hold while they listen.
It turns listeners into people who carry the artist's brand further.
Organizers, labels and brands look at this page before inviting a collaboration.
Listed in the order to do them. A new artist can stop at step two; labels and galleries go all the way.
Name, motif, palette and type: the base for every later work.
Album cover, poster, ticket: the set of visuals for each release.
Lyric book, fan merchandise, signage and items at the concert.
An artist page or label page that gathers the works and the tour dates.
For labels and galleries: guidelines so many artists and many exhibitions share one look.
Sinh Vũ has published one project in this segment: the album and concert of Lê Minh Sơn and Phong Huyền. The second closest is a digital music service.
Composer Lê Minh Sơn had never set a poem to music. Poet Phong Huyền had never written poetry before this. It took them more than two years to bring the eight songs of Tình into being…
In 2022 people listened to music on their phones, so a physical disc was something to give and to keep. The project runs from a motif of two intertwined ribbons to a disc sleeve folded like a book, a lyric book, a ticket with a stub and a take-home gift set.
Keeng is Viettel's music service for young Vietnamese, stepping into a crowded market. Sinh Vũ shaped the name, the interface and the promotional system so Keeng could ring out clearly…
A name that is itself a sound needs a mark that lets the name ring out. Keeng set two e's off the line inside a yellow block, then grew a whole system that is recognized wherever it appears.
The principles behind it
You need to know what story the album tells, the setting in which it is heard and who the listeners are. From there you choose one image, one palette and one way of setting titles, then test it at the small image size of a music app.
A readable wordmark is enough to start. The band uses it on posters, profile pictures and merchandise. Choose a typeface that is easy to redraw and easy to print small.
A label should have a clear taste in how it chooses artists and presents their work. The label brand should stay in the background, small on each product, so each artist remains the one who is remembered.
A simple one, with few colors and few patterns, so the works can speak. Keep the mark and type fixed for invitations, signs and exhibition catalogs. What changes with each exhibition is the image and the title.
Choose a few items worth keeping, such as a lyric book, a poster or a tote bag, and build them from the same motif as the album. Asking fans in advance what they would want to keep beats guessing.
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.