Manchester Collective
Client
Manchester CollectiveDate
2019 – 2023Type of work
Brand
Campaign
Digital
Motion
Image making
Credits
Photography: Camilla Greenwell
“The only thing we ask of you is that you open your ears and let yourself listen. Really listen. And in return, we will create something extraordinary”
Alphabet and UK-based Manchester Collective continue to enjoy an enormously satisfying collaborative union. Since 2017, we have worked together to promote and represent the Collective’s vision to reshape the future of classical music by creating radical artistic work (from their base in the north of England). In 2019 we were asked to design their new brand and together we have compiled a body of work of which we are immensely proud.
A truly inspiring ensemble of artists who consistently produce relevant, provocative and innovative work, our affiliation has made for the creation and production of diverse and beautiful visual expressions reflecting the sounds and experience the Collective produces and performs.
It is imperative that motion and static material have synergy and that the visual expression created by Alphabet are aligned and sympathetic to sounds scapes created by the Collective.
The new brand Identity
In 2019, Alphabet was invited to re-brand the Collective. Contemporary and progressive in nature, we ensured the new identity and brand design expressed a modern take on classical music. Whilst employing a nod to music notation with the integration of the stave, the typographic approach is synchronous with the Collective’s modern take on what is deemed Classical. The signature mark was developed and applied to all relevant communication tools. With an innate understanding of Seasonal programing and the deliberate curating of diverse offerings, Alphabet developed a robust library of brand tools to be utilised across all relevant touch points.
The brand design remains consistent from Season to Season. Approach to Season content, however, is re-explored annually. Seasonal Image making and typography are intentionally dynamic. With evolving themes defining Seasons, art direction and typography respond accordingly. Static and motion campaign material is produced to introduce and promote each Season. Working together with videographers and photographers in the UK, Alphabet develops a visual narrative to uniquely express the works defining each particular Season.
“Unbelievable... Beyond expectation. You guys get us. The reaction to the new identity has been so positive! Love it.”
Adam Szabo - Artistic Director & Chief Executive
Neon
“Neon itself is opulence and decadence; bustling activity and loneliness”.
Hannah Peel, Composer
To capture this, Alphabet utilised grainy film footage documenting an intimate experience in a public space, an immersion in sound – lost in a moment. The abstracted black and white portrait is interrupted by the bold, stark hit of colour applied to the uncompromising typography chosen for the title. A collision of sorts to express themes inherent to the compositions – which are the co-existence of bustling activity with the isolation of loneliness.
Weather
A collaboration between Manchester Collective, seminal sound artist Chris Watson, and Spanish filmmaker Carlos Casas. Weather is a unique, immersive experience, combining live performance, real-world sound and film. It is an artistic record of threatened environments from around the globe. Alphabet was tasked with creating an integrated and dynamic graphic overly to both title and reflect the shifting forms, degradation and threatening elimination natural environments are facing. The motion piece created literally has the type forms swept away and obliterated.
The successful outcomes and longevity of our relationship stands as testimony to strength of sharing ideas, values and aspirations across hemispheres.
