Words and Music, Made to Order™
the brief
The Song Factory, by singer/songwriter and guitarist Benjamin Berman, is a unique service that provides custom-made music—written, produced, and recorded to fit any occasion.
It needed a new logo and a new look to officially launch.
While Ben writes in many genres, where he really shines (and what he enjoys most) is good old-fashioned 70’s British Invasion rock ‘n’ roll. So, I wanted the new look to rock…but still be flexible enough to be genre-agnostic.
The old look
The client liked this image of a factory, and had been using it as a logo. While it is charming, it doesn’t work as a logo because it is fairly complicated, and it also doesn’t communicate the “song” part of “The Song Factory” in any way. The client knew he wanted to keep this image, but I wanted to make it work as a logo.
The typeface on the website was gentle Josefin Slab, which conveys bespoke luxury and appeals to a higher-end market…but doesn’t exactly rock.
The new look
I kept the original factory image as a silhouette, and added a Stratocaster cutout to communicate music on Ben’s main instrument, the guitar. The factory remains legible as such, and the uneven lines preserve the hand-drawn charm of the original.
Taking visual inspiration from album cover art from the golden age of rock and roll, I chose a deep maroon for the main color and Futura/Futura Compressed for the main typefaces. The sans-serif still looks high-end but in a more vibrant, energetic way; the maroon has a bolder look and is more of an eye-catching statement.
Ready to Rock
We also worked on a new website that is more user-friendly and customer-oriented. A streamlined homepage and integrated FAQs section makes the experience smooth and visually intriguing.
