New brand identity and App design for the House of Carmen from Universal Music Group. House of Carmen is designed specifically as a community for creators who want access to some of the biggest artists in the world. Members of the community are presented with challenges that run across social platforms including; TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Briefs vary, but the House of Carmen enables users to earns rewards and payment for their unique content. Join the community. Shape music culture.
The identity echoes the scrolling characteristics of social, with a quiet nod to film reels. The resulting H becomes a flexible holding device that creates a dynamic frame for photography and moving image. The suite of assets allows the brand to be both playful, and reserved, when needed. We also applied this design direction to the UI and UX approach for the App, with the internal team delivering the final build.
Our work with Le Col covers strategic consulting and creative direction, as well as full delivery of large scale campaigns for digital, eCommerce, paid social, marketing and eCRM. In more recent years we have played a more pro-active role in rooting out key issues within the business and putting systems in place to reduce strain on resource, improve the quality, and reduce spend. Our focus has always been to do more, for less, by using our years of expertise to streamline the areas that are being over-serviced, but not at the expense of the bigger creative and conceptual wins.
We’re not usually ones to boast about what we do, but when we started this journey, Le Col was an unknown entity, from an unknown bike rider. In the past decade we have built a brand that has secured over £15m+ in funding, has worked with the highest calibre of Tour winning riders, Giro winning teams and a host of enviable partnerships. From the logo to the TV commercials, we can proudly say we’ve had our hand in most of it.
We’re always striving to build on the brand – for higher quality assets, more consistently, with a premium brand offering. But, more than that, we want the passion that most of us riders feel to be handled with care, it’s not just a commodity, and those working on it should enjoy the journey. This passion and drive culminates in more functional deliverables like our over-arching concept development for 2024 below.
Our strategic approach has led to a number of key improvements across the business – an overhaul of email marketing; including new guidelines, a new hierarchy and photography approach, flexible templates, as well as implementing automated batching and scripting processes across the bulk of its products. Having seen first hand the internal issues as the business scaled, we could resolve repetition, as well as specifics like global pricing, gender splits, slow turnaround times and high volumes of assets. Delivering a 60% reduction in design and marketing resource, with more control being put back into the eCRM team to focus on performance.
We’ve audited and recommended better solutions for photography and videography across the board, looking to elevate the offering at all opportunities from a customer perspective. We’ve introduced some immensely talented creatives from photographers, videographers, 3D/designers, animators, production companies and directors along the way, who continue to deliver the vision. This enthusiasm has most noticeable improved the digital and eCommerce proposition with a much more forward focussed approach to improvements and nimble, data-driven, iterations.
Having audited the brand development from previous seasons, we created a flexible identity system that would streamline internal resource without impacting on the quality of the output. By producing an over-arching design system, we were able to build an identity that was dynamic enough to deliver simpler, more templated, solutions when the deadlines are tight, whilst having the ability to be flexible on larger campaigns. We also delivered a large proportion of the output and art direction across all platforms.
The forward slash solution and frame device allowed room for creativity, maintaining a consistent look and feel across multiple products and ranges. The key was to find a solution that enabled typography, a key brand pillar, to work effectively as well as leave room to be playful without stringent rules that would stifle exploration.
As part of the brand audit, we also gave recommendations on shoot direction and photography approaches for social media and all digital platforms. As well as creating a new set of brand guidelines across eCrm, to again, pull back valuable time that was being lost, but also to raise the bar on the quality of output. We overhauled the teams approach to studio & model photography that considers UI and UX work that is in progress.
Our unique position allows us to really understand where the internal team can make better use of resources, driving competitive edge and deliver across multiple channels effectively. A future-proofed approach that can be built on for the next season.
Adapted and applied to the Le Col x Wiggins launch:
Welcome to LC___CC – Le Col Cycling Club. Ride with legends, train with Pros and turn your effort into rewards. A community united by stories, shared goals and hard-and-fast ambition. The most rewarding club in cycling.
Limited Edition Design worked with the senior Le Col team, to develop a branding strategy, messaging and a dynamic new visual and verbal identity — including user interface and experience design across hundreds of items and details to enable development agency Savvy, and the internal team of developers, to bring the complex platform build to life. From the outset, the concept was a digital first approach, so the visual identity had to be flexible enough to work across multiple strands, whilst ensuring a sense of community and warmth.
The visual design approach comprises of entirely new colour systems, photography, typography, iconography and signature graphic assets in both static and animated forms. The iconography plays a key role in creating a visual language and design system for the content, whilst typography plays to a fluid, more conversational tone to maintain that warmth.
A small selection of our work below, with an update to follow soon.
The identity also runs across mens and womens Kit design that is only available to members:
Wireframing and interaction design to integrate Club into the overall eCommerce design we’ve developed for the master brand. Maintaining enough of a unique feel that it can standout and be signposted as part of the customers user journey.
Cycling has always put emphasis on place – From the Alpine climbs of Galibier, Croix de Fer and Stelvio, to the steep streets of Siena – where you ride holds weight. In testing times with restrictions on travel and hopes of winter sun abroad, hopes of our Spring Summer photoshoots evaporated with each announcement. Like everyone, dreams of switchbacks and short sleeves were dashed.
Having explored options to shoot in Tenerife, and then Mallorca, and then turning our own frustrations into an opportunity to go back to the drawing board and be more creative. It became clear from the process, that actually, do we want to be seeing images of other people riding those iconic and sunny roads? Social influencers were flouting the rules, and our patience, time for Plan C – F*ck it, Fake it… time to be more playful, embrace our home roads and put a bit of fun back into cycling, like so many have found in lockdown. Own it.
Concept & Execution: Limited Edition Design
Client: Le Col
Photography: Michael Blann
Retouch: Phil Borg
Production: Squire & Thom Green
Our latest repositioning and branding project for banking institution Panmure Gordon & Company, building on its rich heritage and progressive plans for growth.
The project covered a strategic phase, defining and repositioning the business leading into the creation of the visual brand that fitted its new purpose of Redefining Merchant Banking.
We’ve created a new brand world and guidelines covering all aspects of the visual identity from logo, photography, tone of voice, marketing collateral and a new website currently in production.
