The historic Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has unveiled its recent model id, a harmonious fusion of custom and modernity courtesy of the inventive minds at Colossus. The famend Boston promoting company redefined the visible language of BSO and its affiliated manufacturers: The Boston Pops, Tanglewood, and Symphony Corridor.
Based in 1881 and revered as one of many world’s preeminent orchestras, the BSO has lengthy graced the levels of Symphony Corridor and Tanglewood, charming audiences with masterful compositions by legendary conductors. The Boston Pops has turn into synonymous with musical excellence, with an illustrious historical past boasting luminaries like Arthur Fiedler and John Williams, enchanting listeners with iconic performances and annual spectacles. Tanglewood has lengthy been hallowed floor for music aficionados, internet hosting an array of celebrated artists in opposition to an idyllic backdrop in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Nevertheless, because the BSO sought to bridge the hole between its storied previous and a vibrant future, it acknowledged the necessity for a recent reimagining of its model id. Colossus rose to the event, infusing the establishment’s legacy with modernity whereas preserving its wealthy heritage.
The brand new model, characterised by heat and approachability, departs from earlier iterations, unifying the BSO’s numerous choices below a cohesive visible id. The model incorporates a color-coded system and two complementary typefaces, mixing old-world sophistication with modern aptitude. This rebrand is critical as a result of it focuses on fostering broader viewers engagement and accessibility, reflecting the BSO’s dedication to innovation whereas preserving its legacy and guaranteeing that classical music stays accessible to all.
Desirous to be taught extra concerning the technique and course of behind this colossal enterprise, Travis Robertson, Co-Founder and Government Inventive Director of Colossus, and Jesse Needleman, Vice President, Advertising, Gross sales, & Communications of BSO, fortunately obliged with an unique.
(Dialog edited for size and readability).
Given the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s historical past and cultural significance, what had been the important thing challenges and concerns in modernizing its model id?
Travis Robertson: This venture was equal elements exhilarating and terrifying. Strolling within the shadows of giants, our group felt an incredible sense of satisfaction and the burden of duty to get it proper. For an establishment so steeped in custom and heritage, altering the course required great strategic alignment, analysis, and due diligence. We concerned key stakeholders, prospects, and musicians earlier than placing pen to paper. We ensured that the classical purists and institutional guardians felt heard and represented whereas additionally shifting ahead with one thing that resonated with the subsequent technology.
We stored harkening again to a quote from Henry Lee Higginson, the American businessman and Civil Struggle veteran who based the BSO in 1881. He wrote that the establishment aimed “to make truthful costs for the tickets after which open huge the doorways.” With that in thoughts, we did our greatest to create an inviting, unpretentious model id that additionally underscored the magnitude and credibility of the music.
On using architectural parts as design influences for the brand new model id: May you elaborate on the importance of this strategy and the way it displays the essence of the Boston Symphony Orchestra?
Travis Robertson:
4 disparate items of the puzzle needed to be solved and, in the end, unified by the event of the brand new id system. Tanglewood: an out of doors music venue nestled within the hills of The Berkshires. Symphony Corridor: the enduring constructing often called an acoustic jewel and residential to the BSO. The Boston Pops: the celebratory, widespread expression of the symphony often called “America’s Orchestra.” And, after all, the flagship Boston Symphony Orchestra. Whereas musicians come and go, the stage itself has served because the bedrock of consistency all through the historical past of the BSO. You’ll be able to really feel it within the partitions of Symphony Corridor and the grass of Tanglewood’s notorious Music Shed.
To outline the feel and appear of the brand new model id, we appeared to structure and the distinctive sense of area created by every setting to assist information us. After touring every construction, we gravitated towards sure traits, shapes, and geometric patterns. We additional solidified this concept after viewing the unique Symphony Corridor blueprints from the architectural agency McKim, Mead & White (1900). We noticed that the home windows, soffits, and facet entry had been all in-built the identical arch form. We assigned this form to the BSO after which labored to uncover additional geometric signifiers for Pops, Tanglewood, and Symphony Corridor. Ultimately, we arrived at a constant system rooted in a spot of historical past and authenticity.
To broaden the attraction of classical music to a youthful and extra numerous viewers, how did Colossus strategy the duty of constructing the orchestra’s model extra accessible whereas nonetheless sustaining its sense of sophistication and custom?
Travis Robertson: Nice query. Our design group on this venture was each younger and numerous, guaranteeing that we weren’t telegraphing uninformed views or misrepresenting issues. We additionally took the time to talk with every viewers segmentation- from Classical Purists to Experiential Engagers to Mainstreamers- ensuring our strategy resonated alongside the best way.
Finally, it gained’t be the colour palette, intelligent iconography, or playful form decisions that make the orchestra extra accessible. We will solely pique the curiosity and pave the trail for brand spanking new audiences. Our work is the outward sign of this institutional evolution. Nevertheless, the BSO’s programming, improvements, collaborations, and significant neighborhood partnerships will create a very impactful and well-rounded step ahead. And so they’ve made some unimaginable strides to just do that. It’s been heartening to see the subsequent chapter of this storied establishment start to take form.
May you delve deeper into how the choice of particular colours for every sub-brand displays the distinctive id and essence of the disparate entities?
We derived the colour palette from the historic lineage of the model, alongside trendy influences and the necessity to differentiate the 4 factions of the BSO. Blue for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a foundational colorway for many years. Purple for the Boston Pops, with nods to Americana and vacation festivities. Inexperienced for Tanglewood is an homage to the plush foliage and pure setting in Lenox, MA. And gold for Symphony Corridor, based mostly on the enduring constructing’s gilded brass and brick textures.
Given the intention of constructing classical music extra approachable and inclusive by the brand new model id, what particular methods or initiatives does the Boston Symphony Orchestra plan to implement to make sure that this message resonates with numerous audiences? How do you envision these efforts contributing to breaking down limitations and increasing the orchestra’s attain?
Jesse Needleman: What’s vital in getting the model id to resonate is backing it up with programming that resonates, too; the product we provide and its packaging completely must match.
We at all times take a look at our programming by a lens of engagement. So to that finish, we’ve been working exhausting to convey thrilling younger expertise to our levels (like South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim, who research at NEC, gained the Van Cliburn piano competitors, and just lately bought out 4 concert events at Symphony Corridor), to fee and premiere new works (from the likes of Tania Leon and our newly introduced Composer Chair Carlos Simon), to supply extra culturally related programming (like a Delight Night time live performance that includes Thorgy Thor, and Dia de Muertos concert events, each with the Boston Pops), and to convey added context to the music we carry out by together with companion humanities programming in thematic festivals that anchor our seasons (like “Shostakovich Decoded” and “Beethoven & Romanticism” that will probably be a part of the just lately introduced 2024-2025 BSO season).
The model identities sign that it’s a brand new day on the BSO, each within the sense that we’re persevering with our deep and wealthy historical past of innovation in orchestral music and that we’re taking a tough take a look at how we need to innovate the long run in order that we are able to contribute as a lot as we are able to to the superb communities that we’re a part of in Boston and within the Berkshires; we’re excited there will probably be far more to return on precisely what which means.
With the evolving panorama of music consumption and leisure preferences, how does the BSO envision itself within the digital realm, and the way will the brand new model id help its efforts to attach with audiences by on-line channels and multimedia experiences?
Jesse Needleman: The pandemic taught us rather a lot about creating digital experiences (significantly concert events by way of streaming video) and led us to strategy this venture with a powerful “digital first” mentality. Whereas curiosity in streaming concert events has waned because the public started returning to live performance halls for in-person performances, we additionally know that we dwell in an more and more digital world, and media that had been as soon as regarded as “conventional” (like out of doors) are themselves changing into digital, and require a distinct strategy to model id. So, as a part of growing the brand new identities, we not solely created static variations of our logos but in addition developed animated variations, and we’re additionally growing an audio element for them. Sight, sound, and movement are vital to capturing consideration within the digital world that we dwell in, and so our model identities must make the most of that.
In a world the place cultural establishments should evolve to satisfy the calls for of a quickly altering panorama, the Boston Symphony Orchestra is a shining instance of custom reimagined. With its daring new id, the BSO will captivate hearts and minds for generations to return, inviting audiences to expertise the transformative energy of music in all its splendor.
