goro records

GORO

ゴロ

visual identity

ABOUT COMPANY ... 02

STYLE RESEARCH ... 04

LOGO DESIGN ... 12

TYPOGRAPHY ... 18

GUIDELINES ... 22

REAL WORLD ... 26

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GOROrEcOrds

ゴロレコード

2

BRAND GUIDELINES TYPOGRAPHY

2

BRAND GUIDELINES

2

ABOUT cOMPANY

02

Taking its name from the Japanese sound effect “gorogoro” (ゴロゴロ), referring to carefree laughter as well as the sound of thunder, GORO Records is already a big name in Japan’s indie music scene. In light of their expansion to the Western market, a new brand identity has been developed.

The aim was to form a set of brand guidelines that can be used across a range of platform and media types.

ABOUTCOMPANY

GORO

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STYLErEsEArch

スタイルリサーチ

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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sTYLE rEsEArch

type as decoration

1.

At the beginning of my research, the first thing I did was to look at the graph-ic design used in Japanese advertising and editorial design.

I did this in order to get specific ex-amples for the colorful, modern look I had in mind for the brand design, and in the process I came across three char-acteristics which were found in various examples as well as the record labels I looked into.

VIsUAL STYLE

Japanese graphic design often re-lies heavily on typography. Japanese letters are used as design elements, not just to convey information. Many designs incorporate large amounts of text and Japanese and Western texts and typefaces are often mixed.

BRAND GUIDELINES

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sTYLE rEsEArch

It is not unusual to find decorative elements in a hand-drawn stye, handwriting fonts or brushstrokes in Japanese graphic design. This adds a youthful playfulness to the visual style - something that GORO Records embodies as well.

Hand-drawn style

2.

BRAND GUIDELINES

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sTYLE rEsEArch

In entertainment advertising, colors tend to be bold and saturated. Col-ors like these are also associated with imagery like Tokyo’s neon lights at night and therefore fitting for the brand. Again, since the brand em-bodies a bold attitude, this design element becomes important as well.

Bold colors

3.

BRAND GUIDELINES

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sTYLE rEsEArch

unBORDE is a record label founded under Warner Mu-sic Japan in December 2010. The label’s concept at the foundation is “trendy” yet “edgy.” Currently the label has very characteristic 12 artists signed, such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and tofubeats.

unBORDE will be GORO’s main competitor on the Western market for Japanese music. As this is a dras-tically changing industry and we are competing for a relatively small target group in the beginning, GORO will have to make an impact with an outstanding brand identity that sets the label apart from unBORDE while preserving a playful, recognizable look at the same time. Moshi Moshi Records is a Lon-

don-based independent record la-bel. Alhough they do not specialize in Japanese music, the label takes its name from the Japanese tele-phone greeting “moshi moshi” and incorporates Japanese letters in its logo.

unBORDE

Moshi Moshi

BRAND GUIDELINES

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sTYLE rEsEArch

Rhion Records is an indie Japanese label specialized in the publication of 7inch singles. Ramen Curry Music Records (RCMR) is another Japa-nese record label which focuses on the pop and indie genres.

Though not a record label, clothing designer, manu-facturer and retailer Uniqlo is worth mentioning as it is a Japanese brand well-known to Western con-sumers and uses Japanese typography as a design element in its logo. In Europe and the US, both the Western and Japanese version of the logo are used, even though most con-sumers won’t be able to read the Japanese characters.

Rhion & RCMR

Uniqlo

BRAND GUIDELINES

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sTYLE rEsEArch

Logo analysis

tyPe as deCORatiOn

BOld COlORs

Hand-dRaWn style

The elements I discovered during my research on Jap-anese visual style can clearly be found in the brand identities of the record labels as well.

Therefore, these characteristics will be important in the brand design.

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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sTYLE rEsEArch

Merchandise

A look at the merchandise offered by the previously mentioned labels reveals a wide range of products, especially for the Japan-based labels.

The playful, bold logos are especially suited for print on various articles and can also be used in different color schemes and hues, resulting in a broad sorti-ment of merchandise.

Typical products include mugs, apparel, phone covers and stationary items.

LOGOdEsIGN

ロゴデザイン

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BRAND GUIDELINES

2

LOGO dEsIGN

The elements I definitely wanted to include in the logo were the Japanese characters ゴ (go) and ロ(ro). They are part of the Katakana alphabet which has a distinct look with more straight lines than the Hiragana alphabet.

One inital idea was to incorporate a play on words in the logo by including the numbers “5” and “6”, since two possible Japanese readings would be “go” and “ro”. However, the idea was dismissed because it would not be understood by Western consumers.

Another initial design idea was thunder and lightning since these are associated with the “goro goro” onomatopoeia.

dEsIGNIDEAS

ゴ + ロ

GO + RO

5 + 6 ?

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BRAND GUIDELINES

2

LOGO dEsIGN

Sketches

Some early sketches using the idea of thunder and llightning.

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BRAND GUIDELINES

2

LOGO dEsIGN

Sketches

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BRAND GUIDELINES

2

LOGO dEsIGN

The final design is a rather simple combination of the two Japanese letters. The hand-drawn component of the logo are the letters as well as the square border which is inspired by the look of Japanese calligraphy.

However, playful elements such as patterns can easily be incorporated in the square design (see “Logo variations”).

The logo typeface is Gotham Rounded which compliments the heading typeface for the brand (Miso) very well as it is a rounded slab sans serif as well, but wider and therefore better suited for the logo shape. GORO

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Final logo design

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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LOGO dEsIGN

Logo variations

GORO

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TYPOGrAPhY

タイポグラフィ

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For headings, the typeface is “Miso Bold” in capital letters. Miso is an architectural letter-ing font which compliments the rounded edg-es in the logo and is well-suited for headings because of its narrow design.

If a publication is written in Japanese lan-guage, the preferred typeface is “HCP Marui”, a rounded typeface with a slab look that com-pliments the logo.

Sub-headings are to be formatted using the “Jiyucho” type in capital letters. This typeface was specifically chosen for its playful, hand-written signing pen look. Furthermore, this is a Japanese font with all characters available, which might be useful in multilangual publi-cations.

For text, the “Yu Gothic” typefamily was cho-sen in the light and bold variations. Again, this is a standard Japanese font which is also highly readable because of its small letter fac-es and references Japanese calligraphy with

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890-!@#$%^&*()_+{}

ABCDEFGHIJKLM-NOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklm-nopqrstuvwxyz1234567890-!@#$%^&*()_+{}

ABCDEFGHIJKLM-NOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklm-nopqrstuvwxyz1234567890-!@#$%^&*()_+{}

ABCDEFGHI0123 .!?/#

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LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, CONSETETUR SADIPSCING ELITR.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua.

LOREM IPSUM DOLOR

WESTERNPUBLIcATIONs

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とうてい嘉納さんで妨害懐手まだ意味になっあり世界中どん!

すでにともかくはひょろひょろ理といういなので、あなたがは場合上まであなたのご注文はよろしゅうなっくれたあり。

自己が描いますのはけ

JAPANESEPUBLIcATIONs

GUIDEL I N E s

ガイドライン

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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GUIdELINEs

GORO

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A0.4A

Logo specifications

The logo typeface is Gotham Rounded. It gives a soft feel and an interesting contrast to the handwritten Japanese letters and the harsh brushstroke.

Note that the logo requires sufficient space to other objects as it is a bold and eye-catching element.

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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GUIdELINEs

Colour scheme

70% 50% 30% 70% 50% 30% 70% 50% 30% 70% 50% 30%

rGB

hEX#d7345a

214,52,89

cMYK11,94,55,1

rGB

hEX# ea8918

234,137,24

cMYK5,94,95,0

rGB

hEX#000000

0,0,0

cMYK91,79,62,97

rGB

hEX#F1F9ea

241,249,234

cMYK8,0,12,0

rGB

hEX#FFFFFF

255,255,255

cMYK0,0,0,0

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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GUIdELINEs

Do’s & Don’ts

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Font too close to logoNormal specifications Use of other font

Placing other colours than corporate

colours into the logo

Border other than the brushstroke

DistortionThis page provides some basic examples on what to avoid when using the logo. Please follow these guidelines to ensure a consistent brand identity.

✓

REALWOrLd

リアルワールド

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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cONTEXTUAL EXAMPLEs

Logo on different materials

The logo can be used on a wide range of materials such as emblems or stickers because emphasis has been put on simplicity and readability.

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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cONTEXTUAL EXAMPLEs

Stationary

The bright colours in combination with an overall reduced design for the stationary items will keep the overall impression of the brand fresh as well as professional-looking.

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BRAND GUIDELINES

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cONTEXTUAL EXAMPLEs

Merchandise

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BrANd GUIdELINEs cONTEXTUAL EXAMPLEs

Street sign

This example illustrates how the logo can easily be used in a street sign for GORO Records’ London branch.

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BrANd GUIdELINEs rEFErENcEs

References

lOGO - PixedenstiCKeRs - GraphicsFuelstatiOnaRy - GraphicsFueltOte BaG - GraphicBurgerdisK sleeve - PixedenstReet siGn - GraphicsFuel

Permission has been given to use these resources for any number of personal and commercial projects.

GORO

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vISUAL IDENTITYulRiKe sCHWeRtBeRGeR

c716629211/2015

goro records

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