a list of 8 kickass branding studios I love
Since I am going to give a talk about branding at the Designforum in Vienna this march I am thinking about role models in branding quite a lot lately. I am wrapping my head around good examples and case studies from this commercial field and want to think beyond the known definitions and boxes for my talk.
For years I have been keeping a list of independent branding studios and creative individuals whose work I really love and I want to share it. Not to confuse with things that inspire me in branding and whilst I am working on branding projects. In that case, I am way more inspired by well-positioned characters who have figured out how to brand themselves and things that get revealed during the process of working with brands. I want to share 8 of my most favourite studios in a list and add why I think those people and their projects are amazing! The creative individuals will most probably become an extra post to not overwhelm and show that also individuals (not only big studios with big budget clients) can create amazing stuff.
SMÖRGÅSBORD
http://www.smorgasbordstudio.com/ because their rebranding of WALES is such a holistic masterpiece and it is executed so considered. Location brand, in general, is a very interesting topic and to think about so many things and details that come with a project like that is just mindblowing.
KOTO
https://www.studiokoto.co/ because the work they did for FANTA is just amazing if you consider all the hundreds of languages they had to make that brand work for. also, they had the balls to only show one project on their website for ages - now it's 4
BVD
http://bvd.se/ because I have always loved the Swedish approach to design and BVD has covered packing systems for VITRA as well as excellent brand worlds for retail, stores, and environments.
STOCKHOLMDESIGNLAB
http://www.stockholmdesignlab.se/ also Swedish and the creator of the IKEA food branding. I like them because they think beyond beautiful pictures and rethink systems like they did for logistics in their project with FAREWELL
COLLINS
http://www.wearecollins.com/ because I actually like their redesign for DROPBOX (despite a lot of critiques) and I can tell every day by turning on SPOTIFY that they created an excellent visual world for this company.
DIXONBAXI
http://dixonbaxi.com/ I always felt attracted by studios that break up the classical boxes. these guys definitely are pros in station branding and amazing with moving images.
GRETEL
http://gretelny.com/ because those guys know how a good idea can inspire everything. they have shown it in so many projects like the one for VICELAND or for NETFLIX.
MAN VERSUS MACHINE
http://mvsm.com/ yet again not a classical "branding company" but I love that they do what they want and have created their own box. they have a strong belief in visual worlds that define brands and their station branding for CHANEL 4 is one of my favorites.
© all picture copyrights are with the mentioned studios