Pentagram X MIDI: a brand new visual campaign for the heard and unheard
Pentagram goes ultra sonic with MIDI's latest brand identity design by Yuri Suzuki and Sascha Lobe.
MIDI, which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is the global standard that allows digital musical instruments to talk to each other, has been rebranded with a design approach based on sound waves.
As noted the world's largest independent design consultancy was commissioned to head up MIDI’s brand identity design “to maximise exposure and adoption of MIDI 2.0.”
The identity's trademark is inspired by musical forms, such as the Stuttgart pitch, and the wordmarque design also references the shape of Lissajous curves, which are graphs of a system of parametric equations used to describe complex harmonic motion.
“The finalised design represents a modulation shape between 440 Hz – 880 Hz which is globally recognised as a tone for tuning instruments” notes Pentagram.
The sonic logo “complements the wordmarque design, creating a mirror between sound and vision” as MIDI’s brand new visual language “feeds on the interplay between the visual and sonic, creating a suitably iconic logo for the next generation of music makers and music lovers.”
“The MIDI 2.0 visual campaign is based on the heard and unheard, a synesthesia of sorts that visualises sound and vice versa. Sound is sentimental and can be imagined even in the absence of audible clues with unheard outputs such as imagery and motion giving way to soundscapes trained by synaptic communication in our brains that create memories.”
Ever since 1981, MIDI has massively changed the way musical instruments communicate, connecting electronic music instruments, computers and other audio devices. This refresh of MIDI's identity replaces its previous wordmark and follows the 2020 release of MIDI 2.0, the first significant update of the standard in over 35 years.
MIDI 2.0 is a future-proof upgrade which introduces novel features and added functionality as MIDI’s use has grown to include computers, tablets and smartphones.
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Tags/ typography, pentagram, brand identity, sascha lobe, yuri suzuki, sound
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