Jay Song Studio
•
Logo / Brand
•
Website design
•
Promotional video
Jay Song Studio is the purpose-built home studio of audio recording engineer and music producer, Justin Newton, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Justin is my brother and I’ve enjoyed working with him on various iterations of his professional branding over the years, including jnTracks Productions, Railroad Avenue Recording, and his current business name Justin Newton Audio.
Seeking to brand the new studio as a destination for great music records, Justin chose the new name as a play on his first initial and the idea of a songbird. Together we developed an elegant, flexible, and unique logo system based on this songbird-audio concept, refreshed and relaunched his website under the Jay Song Studio moniker, and even developed a simple introductory video to promote the new studio.
www.jaysongstudio.com
Jay Song Studio
•
Logo / Brand
•
Website design
•
Promotional video
Jay Song Studio is the purpose-built home studio of audio recording engineer and music producer, Justin Newton, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Justin is my brother and I’ve enjoyed working with him on various iterations of his professional branding over the years, including jnTracks Productions, Railroad Avenue Recording, and his current business name Justin Newton Audio.
Seeking to brand the new studio as a destination for great music records, Justin chose the new name as a play on his first initial and the idea of a songbird. Together we developed an elegant, flexible, and unique logo system based on this songbird-audio concept, refreshed and relaunched his website under the Jay Song Studio moniker, and even developed a simple introductory video to promote the new studio.
www.jaysongstudio.com
Logo & Brand
Concept in Procreate using Apple Pencil
Final design in Adobe Illustrator
The primary Jay Song Studio logo comprises an abstraction of an audio waveform in the shape of a silhouetted songbird, with the brand name trailing in its wake. Contextual flexibility is achieved using multiple “lockups” (arrangements) of the “Jay Wave” logomark and the “Jay Song Studio” logotype, of which both pieces can also be used independently.
CONCEPT PHASE: Early concept sketches inspired the visual idea of the audio waveform in the shape of the silhouetted jay, but the final design concept did not emerge before thoroughly developing several other, similar but distinct design directions.
LOGOMARK: We explored numerous approaches for conveying the abstract visual combination of a jay and an audio waveform. The final shape is both simple (to afford scalability) and original (to promote brand ownership), all while remaining objectively recognizable as both a bird and a sound wave, according to a small group of polled viewers.
LOGOTYPE: We simultaneously experimented with typographical iterations, with the goal of visually integrating the logotype with the audio waveform metaphor without over-sacrificing readability. Our final selection accomplishes this with vertically elongated letterforms, and implied small-caps and drop-caps, to help parse the words without spaces. Subtly rounded corners complement the smooth curves of the Jay Wave logomark.
COLORS: The Jay Song Studio brand colors come directly from the existing Justin Newton Audio brand, which remains the business name behind both brands. The implementation of the brand colors further enhances the visual metaphor of the audio waveform, as it is typically rendered in professional audio software.
Website Design Refresh
Squarespace, Customizations using CSS, HTML, and JavaScript, Adobe Photoshop
Photography, Video Production
Additional Photography by Derek Heidemann
I had previously worked with Justin to update the design of his existing website. With the rebranding under Jay Song Studio, we refreshed the website a second time, taking new photography of the new studio, adding a promotional video (see below), and using the opportunity to clean up some of the language and simplify the path for new clients to reach his business.
Promotional Video
Videography, Video Production
Music by Derek Heidemann
We also created a very simple promotional video to introduce Jay Song Studio on the site. I consulted on concept and script, and then handled lighting, direction, shooting, and video editing for the project. Music was provided by Derek Heidemann and edited by Justin himself.