The One Show
The One Show is the world's most prestigious award show in advertising and design. For over 50 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.
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Category
Typography / Dynamic / In Motion
Annual ID
OS_DE21_012G
About the Work
The San Francisco Symphony is a 108-year old international cultural touchstone with a deep legacy of rewriting the rules to advance the orchestral arts.
The Symphony is transforming its previous programming approaches, subverting hierarchy in the industry through a DEI-focused organizational overhaul, and — in a move that stunned the global music community — has passed the baton to visionary conductor and composer, Esa–Pekka Salonen.
Salonen’s drive to reposition classical music for the 21st century aligned with everything San Francisco and the organization stands for. Their blueprint is experimental, built upon a groundbreaking artistic leadership model: eight partners, from diverse disciplines: Bryce Dressner of The National, AI entrepreneur Carol Reiley, bassist Esperanza Spalding, classical vocalist Julia Bullock, experimental flutist Claire Chase, violinist Pekka Kuusisto and composer and pianist Nicholas Britell.
We were invited to clarify, define, and express this new vision for the Symphony, and help them re-assert classical music as a crucial, global contemporary art form — while staying rooted in community and strengthening bonds that have made them so successful for over a century.
An experimental, ever-responsive visual system brings to life the dynamic qualities of classical music itself. Traditional typography speaks to the art form’s heritage. Responsive and variable font technologies add an unexpected contemporary behavior — each typographic character morphs in reaction to the sound of music.
We crafted a more expressive voice that juxtaposes the timeless formality of black and white with a contemporary palette inspired by the Bay Area. All designed to evoke the rich emotional range of symphonic music across an always-changing media and digital landscape.
The Symphony is transforming its previous programming approaches, subverting hierarchy in the industry through a DEI-focused organizational overhaul, and — in a move that stunned the global music community — has passed the baton to visionary conductor and composer, Esa–Pekka Salonen.
Salonen’s drive to reposition classical music for the 21st century aligned with everything San Francisco and the organization stands for. Their blueprint is experimental, built upon a groundbreaking artistic leadership model: eight partners, from diverse disciplines: Bryce Dressner of The National, AI entrepreneur Carol Reiley, bassist Esperanza Spalding, classical vocalist Julia Bullock, experimental flutist Claire Chase, violinist Pekka Kuusisto and composer and pianist Nicholas Britell.
We were invited to clarify, define, and express this new vision for the Symphony, and help them re-assert classical music as a crucial, global contemporary art form — while staying rooted in community and strengthening bonds that have made them so successful for over a century.
An experimental, ever-responsive visual system brings to life the dynamic qualities of classical music itself. Traditional typography speaks to the art form’s heritage. Responsive and variable font technologies add an unexpected contemporary behavior — each typographic character morphs in reaction to the sound of music.
We crafted a more expressive voice that juxtaposes the timeless formality of black and white with a contemporary palette inspired by the Bay Area. All designed to evoke the rich emotional range of symphonic music across an always-changing media and digital landscape.
2021 Awards
Total Points: 45
Gold Pencil
Credits
Design Firm
Collins
Type Foundry
Dinamo
Client / Brand
San Francisco Symphony
Animator
Eric Park
Tomas Markevicius
Chief Creative Officer
Brian Collins
Creative Director
Karin Soukup
Louis Mikolay
Creative Technologist
Ivan Cruz
Designer
Mackenzie Pringle
Yeun Kim
Digital Artist
Neil Jackson
Strategist
Christine Takaichi
Senior Designer
Erik Berger Vaage
Michael Taylor
Sidney Lim
Creative
Ben Crick
Managing Director
Karin Fyhrie
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