Check out this promising relationship on the digital music market in Ben Sisario’s article in The New York Times. Indeed, U5 will give X5 access to at least 50,000 of Universal’s classical tracks, and another 50,000 jazz and blues songs from world famous Record labels Blue Note, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon and Verve catalogs, which Universal owns. Their mission is to take X5′s expertise in the digital market and apply it to Universal Music’s world leading high quality catalogue.

To kick off the new U5 label, X5 commissioned Avivo to design a fresh brand identity that would clearly articulate that they’re trustworthy, playful, innovative, and sophisticated. Their identity needs to say that U5 is about contemporary products with an innovative and unique feel.

CHALLENGE

X5 wanted a visual brand identity of the U5 to assure consumers and business partners and to give an impression that the label is innovative, rapid, contemporary and exciting. Talking extensively with X5, we learned that their new label is to be soon associated with pioneering ideas and top of the line products.

U5 is a fresh label that targets a broad mainstream audience that is looking for premium products. U5 creates new kinds of theme products that make it easier for customers to find their favourite music; their visual brand identity thus must convey that they’re indeed innovative.

X5 music is fully focused on the digital market. They can curate and release an album in just a couple of days and made them available around the world through all digital platforms; this is made possible by U5′s end-to-end in-house system compared to major labels that usually need 2-3 months to do the same thing. The first U5 releases includes the new “50 Greatest” series “The 50 Greatest Violin Pieces” by Joshua Bell, “The 50 Greatest Violin Pieces” by Joshua Bell, “The 50 Greatest Piano Pieces” by Lang Lang and “The 50 Greatest Performances of Classical Music” compilation.

3 MAIN FEATURES OF THE LOGO

Based on comprehensive briefing, Avivo worked extensively on creating the new label’s visual brand identity, focusing on a logo.

STYLE

U5 visual brand identity, including logo, is contemporary and stylish. It has clean lines that are well visible in any size. During briefings X5′s wish was that new logo wouldn’t had too many details that would get lost in translation.

COLORS

As their first category is Classical music and as U5 stands for top of the line products, the preferred color we agreed on was yellow. This color is synonymous with high quality in the field of classical music. Yellow is also very trendy and timeless as well as light when seen from afar.

PATTERN

Patterns and logo share the same DNA. Patters were developed out of logo’s characteristics.

The logo’s focus is “U5″. The label is called this due to their partnership with Universal Music Group. U5 in the logo is created to look like US. It is clear that the patterns imply that the label is in a constant motion forward; they’re focused on the digital only, which sets them apart from other record labels.

While creating a brand identity for U5, we followed the arguments by Juliana Davis, who wrote for this blog that

“Young companies often try to target the entire universe in the creation and proliferation of their brands, rather
than trying to focus on a niche market.”

We did the latter and the client favour U5 new visual identity. We, Avivo, once again earned trust of our client and are very proud being a part of the launch of U5, a new unique and promising global digital music label.

Realmac Identity made by Avivo

Branding is perhaps the most crucial step in building a new business. Yet all too often, the branding efforts of upstart companies are only marginally affecting the bottom line, or in some cases even driving away potential customers. However, while successful branding does take a great deal of thought and care on the part of a company’s leaders, ambitious entrepreneurs can master the art and science of branding without the aid of an MBA.

One of the primary missteps for early companies attempting to brand their products and themselves is a failure to clearly define to themselves what they are aspiring towards. Industry experts stress the importance for startup companies to ask themselves what they are truly aspiring towards. Companies that promote without taking the time to map their content to the proper consumer roles can lose money on large-scale production while simultaneously investing large sums into marketing that only confuses, turns off, or leaves no impression at all on the desired audience.

Frequently, young companies working to find an audience misstep by aiming for every audience. By trying to market their product to “the general public”, especially in today’s highly segmented market, companies are casting far too wide a net to stand out in a very competitive market. Brands “should have a strong point of view that captivates the early adopters and influencers of their target audience,” says David Mielach, writer for Business News Daily. Mielach offers Toms Shoes as an example of a company that was “really successful at building an army of brand advocates early on. They were able to do so because they created an experience that socially conscious Gen X consumers, and consequently their friends, wanted to be a part of.”

“Toms Shoes.” Photo, Online, n.d. Theycallmejane.wordpress.com. 11, Sept. 2012.

To avoid the frequent branding mistakes, companies should begin their branding with a plan. While companies should always remain flexible to changes, making some broad choices early on and remaining committed to them can make a big difference in a branding’s overall success. Simple, strategically chosen logos, for example, can leave a symbolic imprint in a consumer’s psyche that they then bring with them in every interaction with a company. “If you think about a name like Apple,” it seems pretty simple at first blush,” says Neil Patel, co-founder of business analytics provider KISSmetrics. “But behind it is the mythic story of Adam and Eve eating the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Steve Jobs seemed to be saying knowledge is a good thing”

Phi Gold product Identity made by Avivo. Phi Gold is a Swiss company which produces the finest quality of precious metals coins.

Small businesses almost always face the toughest hurdles in maintaining a presence for their brand, as airtime and publicity almost never comes without major costs. However, by utilizing online venues with logically chosen, search optimized keywords and links, startup companies today are able to expose their brand to millions without much overhead investment at all. While competition is fierce, the modern day marketplace allows for companies that have put thought into every aspect of their brand to become noticed, and if the product serves a valuable function to it’s targeted consumer base, the potential for large-scale success is all but unlimited.

Our little square fat book has arrived. Inside you will find our selection of 10 clients logos. Newly released book – NEW TYPOGRAPHY 2 published by Feierabend Unique Books , Berlin, Germany consists of logos, typography, illustration and photography to animation and industrial design from 124 selected designers and design studios.

Here are the snapshots.

Avivo corporate identity

Bella Sicilia corporate identity

This custom made highly technical industry focused application is now even more integrated into the daily life cycle of monitoring and report making system for cleaning waste water for Slovenia’s capital city Ljubljana.

The application has been expanded to monitor new events, message control board, e-archive and e-dairy for mechanical activities that take place at waste water Treatment Plants. Monitoring all the waste water and mud from tanks and making reports it is crucial to see the system conditions and operation tasks.

IT integration with main plant internal system

Data flow from E-bak application has been carefully integrated into the central IT system to allow access to reports and schedules instantly.

We are extremely proud that everything went well and to have one more happy client.

The Avivo Identity received huge blog coverage among the design community from September 2009. Since then it has been mentioned on web sites like: abduzeedo.com, bestdesignoptions.com, logochief.com (Logo of the Day).

Superia and Bella Sicilia are presented on the same page.

Behind the scenes

Avivo was established in spring 2009 as an independent digital production studio. From the very beginning Avivo started to work with the current Avivo Art Director Denis Olenik from Belarus. Process, experience and know-how lead us beyond first ideas to final solutions for Avivo identity. We wanted the Avivo logo to embrace a unique style that connects with the digital world. The Superia identity was made for our Digital Signage Software product. Logo triangle shapes are so scalable that we have used them in many digital scenarios through standalone Superia multimedia distribution software.

Today Avivo create modern corporate Identities, Brand design concepts and deliver superb service in the form of touch, mobile, web and custom made solutions for LOB (line of business) that enhance user digital experience. Through design and branding processes we help our clients to move from the static world into the digital world of interaction. Ultimately we deliver engaging software and custom made applications to our clients that build brand loyalty and helps them to innovate. We are a multinational team that lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

If you want to work with us or just to say “Hello” send us mail to info@avivo.si.

We were asked to design and develop the new online brand experience for AlmiraSadar and helping the brand to start communicating through the designer’s blog and use of social media. Creating a simple and smooth experience to showcase her new collections and site interaction was quite a task and we are very happy with the outcome. Finally we will help a brand to start their e-commerce site – so watch this space! www.almirasadar.com