In Brief BY Armin

Groovy Lines

Now in its seventeenth year, the London Jazz Festival (LJF) has grown from a showcase of local talent to a world-class event spanning ten days of what are surely life-affirming sounds. There are a couple of reasons why we are turning our attention to the LJF today. The first is that, well, it’s a striking identity job by London based IWANT Design, who created what amounts to a visualization of the various sounds and energy emanating from the festival. The second is that I first saw this work right around the time we were covering scribble-heavy identities like Telecom and Burnley and my first thought was that this is how a scribble-heavy identity is supposed to be made. It’s not only a graphic feast but it serves a conceptual purpose that fits the mood and audience of the festival, and is not just some randomly generated scribbles that happen to look like fun.

Main and alternate illustrations, above.

Thanks to Eye for first coverage.

DATE: Nov.20.2009CATEGORY: In Brief 55 COMMENTS

Dennis Van Staalduinen’s comment is:

Sorry. Missing this one. Is the ribonny-scribbly motif an actual identity (i.e. indented to be used year after year) or just a design theme for this year's edition? It would seem to be the latter...

On Nov.20.2009 at 09:25 AM

Dennis Van Staalduinen’s comment is:

Whoops, "Intended to be used" not "indented to be used".

On Nov.20.2009 at 09:28 AM

Nate B’s comment is:

I'm going to pass on this one. I think this is a case of a designer trying to be too original without stepping back and seeing the end result.

On Nov.20.2009 at 09:29 AM

Tim’s comment is:

I don't agree at all. Great concept, great execution.

Absolutely brilliant!

On Nov.20.2009 at 09:46 AM

San Antonio Employment Lawyers’s comment is:

I'm just confused, not sure what's really going on with the whole design.

On Nov.20.2009 at 09:49 AM

Austin’s comment is:

I think it's nice. It has a happy, festive, exciting, musical look to it. Perfect for a Jazz festival. I mean, Jazz can be so wacky, off-beat, and unexpected, this identity really captures that, I think. I bet the audience would respond to and appreciate it.

On Nov.20.2009 at 09:51 AM

Soda & Candy’s comment is:

Seems a bit techno/computery for something as traditional & free-form as jazz, but I like the design anyway!

On Nov.20.2009 at 09:56 AM

NatalieB’s comment is:

I love it. Not only is it eye candy but it makes sense. It reminds me of an assignment in my early drawing classes where we listened to music and drew what we felt or heard on paper. The identity is solid as well.

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:02 AM

Brandon’s comment is:

It seems that the colors don't come through very well in the print versions. The colors look muddled, much like what would happen if I mixed a bunch of various colors together, which is more or less what they've done with this design.

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:04 AM

Cory ’s comment is:

Someone had fun with the blend tool.

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:10 AM

Jose Nieto’s comment is:

Brandon, are you basing that statement on the photos above, or have you seen the actual publications? The photos look pretty dingy, and at screen resolution it's not surprising that the colors would look muddled. My guess is that in person the printed pieces would look at lot sharper.

Overall, though, this is pretty freaking brilliant. The contrast between the line explosion and the structured type works both visually and conceptually. The only aspect that doesn't work as well for me is the repeated use of circles, particularly for the artist portraits -- seem like a bit much. Otherwise, though, very well done.

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:15 AM

shiftklick’s comment is:

Kind of looks like the book cover design that I made ---> http://www.behance.net/Gallery/The-Developing-World-book-cover/249467

Far out trippy.

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:26 AM

Rodrok’s comment is:

this is an example that when you keep consistency in all your collateral pieces whatever you put in them is going to look good as long as you respect whatever you place.

Personally I think the illustration is not the best approach, if I see the illustration I think first of a design+technology conference, no connection with music st all with the illustration, I guess it's related with the pentagram, but at first glance I didn't made the connection.

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:28 AM

Austin’s comment is:

Brandon:
They look bright and colorful on my screen, you may need to calibrate (no sarcasm intended).

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:36 AM

Pavel’s comment is:

Jazz as I believe it to be, can be unstructured, exploratory and inventive all on the fly. But the bond that melds the music is the fluid rhythm. Smoothness and melody are key in Jazz in my opinion.

That said I see where this was trying to go but I don't think it got there. The chaotic lines are tied together through color and execution. But their shape and alignment assumes no control at all and I believe Jazz is all about the underlying control. The black circle in the background is beyond me...

They typography works well and the layouts with the absence of the black circle are the best in my opinion.

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:36 AM

grfk_dzgn’s comment is:

Repetitive wisps of restrained vector lines all too gauzy and monotone for Jazz. Visual sounds played by the same instrument in the same manner over and over and over again. Lame and washed out.

Where's the individual vitality of which Jazz is all about?

I don't see it.

And the trodden stock type appears as a desperate underscore to be seen, and nothing more. The annoying and banal repetition of the same circular geometric shapes strengthen of lack of - improvisation.

Start over.

On Nov.20.2009 at 10:47 AM

Rodrigo Müller’s comment is:

it looks kind of lame 'cause even if the curvy things were to represent music, they should've been done with FIVE consecutive lines each. a bit overdone I think.

On Nov.20.2009 at 11:09 AM

Violet’s comment is:

I'm not a fan of this design... however... I LOVE how they put the Bass Clef in the 3.

Anyone else catch that?

On Nov.20.2009 at 11:51 AM

Koyo’s comment is:

Flashing Lines!

On Nov.20.2009 at 12:09 PM

obse.’s comment is:

@Violet
I was going to point the same! That 3 is awesome.
Not sure it was part of this IWANT work or if it was coming from earlier version of the Festival. Anyone knows this?

@shiftklick
This DOES NOT LOOK AT ALL like your amateur crappy work.

[Ed.'s Note: Thank you readers for pointing out the unnecessary aggression above. Let's refrain from these kind of comments]

@Rodrok
Amen.

Personally, I think the type treatment is perfect and you cant tell the whole visual identity is well thought (and executed) since you can put aside the scribbly madness and still get a powerful identity. Just look at that Tote Bag!

I absolutely love it.

On Nov.20.2009 at 12:38 PM

Alexanda’s comment is:

Violet the Bass Clef 3 logo is from BBC Radio 3 – the logo was created by Fallon London. Part of a series of logos for each BBC Radio station.

On Nov.20.2009 at 12:43 PM

cj’s comment is:

like the concept, don't like the execution. the point about it being to techy/scientific looking resonates with me. the line design is not at all pleasing to look at.

On Nov.20.2009 at 12:50 PM

Ivan’s comment is:

@obse.’s: Mind your language, please.

On Nov.20.2009 at 01:00 PM

Chad Kaufman’s comment is:

This is ridiculous. It looks like somebody's sewing box spilled and there is thread everywhere.

The major design element is so dominating in all of the pieces. I think it would be more successful if they kept the stringy design for the poster and maybe one other thing and then used elements of it in the other pieces.

On Nov.20.2009 at 01:53 PM

Mog’s comment is:

It looks like, well, a jazz festival.

Well done.

On Nov.20.2009 at 02:05 PM

Alex P.’s comment is:

So is this what the client means when they say, "jazz it up"?

On Nov.20.2009 at 02:05 PM

Paulo Pereira’s comment is:

Very different from other Jazz festival looks- I like it.

On Nov.20.2009 at 02:22 PM

tetra’s comment is:

Surprised at all the condemning comments - I like it and I think it's very representative of jazz and modern music festival collateral in general.

obse. - your comment regarding shiftklick's work was very uncalled for. "I don't agree," would have sufficed, if you felt so inclined to respond at all.

On Nov.20.2009 at 03:24 PM

Theodore Taylor’s comment is:

Quite a lot of modern creative jazz is abstract, deconstructed and at times futuristic, which is why I think this works pretty well overall. I like it.

On Nov.20.2009 at 03:31 PM

Ryan K’s comment is:

I guess I'm missing something. I'm not a fan at all. It looks like stripes of gauze to me. I jazz makes me think of edges and corners and solid colors. not wispy bits of fabric all on top of each other.

On Nov.20.2009 at 03:34 PM

Robin Camille’s comment is:

I'm a fan!... Because it reminds me of that old, old Windows screensaver. Anybody else remember that one?

On Nov.20.2009 at 03:58 PM

Christopher Meeks’s comment is:

I'm totally a fan of this. It's simple, clear and creative. It is flawlessly consistent from piece to piece. You could argue that the lines look too digital but I would disagree, I just think it looks modern. If you equate modern with digital, that is your own thing.

On Nov.20.2009 at 03:58 PM

Joe M.’s comment is:

Nice work. But, it could be more jazzy if the shapes were reconfigured or reinterpreted for each application.

On Nov.20.2009 at 04:33 PM

Daniel’s comment is:

love this work. some people seem a little set in their ways about what a jazz festival should look like. and I think work like this redefines what a festival could look like. this some great work, and would definitely encourage me to go (and i'm not a big fan of jazz)

On Nov.20.2009 at 07:17 PM

Matt C’s comment is:

should be 5 lines like pointed out above.

and the 3 looks like a question mark cut and rotated, to me...

On Nov.20.2009 at 07:33 PM

grubedoo’s comment is:

I think the line graphic could have been better crafted and definitely agree that 5 or 8 (octave) lines would have made more sense. Overall I like the execution and think it effectively relates to music and jazz. The type is quite nice.

On Nov.20.2009 at 08:55 PM

Emily Nakkash’s comment is:

Hey guys, can we stop referring to our own work when pointing out similarities/ flaws/ overall dismissal? It's bad enough that we have to compare everything with everything else (i.e. it's magenta! but t-mobile copyrighted that! oh noes!). We should take culture into *context* and go from there. Sorry, but shouting yourself out—especially as a non sequitur—is, for lack of words at 4am, lame.

Really dig the identity. I don't see how it's that techy. I mean, how freeform can you get? And really, it's a music festival. We could go on forever about what music should look like. Even within a genre, I doubt it'd look like just one thing. Though this one b sharp. (I had to.)

On Nov.21.2009 at 03:11 AM

noname’s comment is:

Emily, I so much agree with you. I really like the work here. It´s really great and almost
a relief to see something that´s not american it it´s expression.

People in here are in general so negative - I do not know why!!

Well done.

On Nov.21.2009 at 05:10 AM

Guillaume’s comment is:

Let's just say it is, indeed, slightly above average, mostly due to good type treatment. Technically, it's all very proper Festival material, and the website works exceptionally well (London Design Festival, take note).

But, while the type and illustration do say "music", and "festival", do they really say something about "jazz" ? I'm afraid this could actually have been even more befitting for something like a "London Philharmonic Festival".

And, personally, I would have preferred something simpler, more iconic and less fussy. But that's to one's own taste.

On Nov.21.2009 at 06:09 AM

shiftklick’s comment is:

You guys ever heard of the internet dickwad theory? Google it and you'll know what I mean.

“If you have learned how to disagree without being disagreeable, then you have discovered the secret of getting along -- whether it be business, family relations, or life itself.” - Bernard Meltzer

On Nov.21.2009 at 08:11 AM

Andrew M’s comment is:

As a whole I love it - Contrasting typefaces, layout, playing off the circle and the sunburst of ribbon (tulle). As a logo I'm not sure it (ribbon in circle) would work (be recognizable) at small sizes.

It's a great visual language that, for me, captures the improvisational aspect of Jazz.

There must be a T-shirt! Maybe with tulle stuck to the front.

On Nov.21.2009 at 12:02 PM

Joseph Maguire’s comment is:

I enjoy its brand elements and layout. Overall I think it's a hit with its tone and typographic architecture. I wouldn't call this a new brand so much as a great branding campaign for an event but the line is kind of fuzzy. I think the artwork that's used as the primary brand element drives this as a successful art directed event. But I am more intrigued by that "3" lock up that's very interesting with its form cut in two and the two dots. What's that all about?

Great job, and good find.

On Nov.22.2009 at 01:43 AM

Mark’s comment is:

This is modern and more to the point totally Jazz.
The dark circle holding in this crazy line art is reflective of the a jazz song, pulsating with sound but still being apart of the original musical core. Jazz is about having fun, about the talent, about being in the moment. Like this art, Jazz can go on any tangent with whatever colorful path it chooses to go down.

I love this. Thumbs Up

On Nov.22.2009 at 05:05 PM

Mesothelioma’s comment is:

I assume they were trying to make a visual that looked like a spontaneous arrangement of sound, something alongs the lines of jazz. All I'm getting is crate paper attack from the center.

On Nov.23.2009 at 10:01 AM

NatalieB’s comment is:

Many people have mentioned that it would have been better using 5 lines. *yawn* That would be way too predictable, IMO. The lines are expressive, not technical. Nicely done.

On Nov.23.2009 at 10:20 AM

Noah Breslau’s comment is:

hey i've been a lurker for awhile but i felt that this description begged this response. I don't know if anyone is a big fan of rick valicenti, but this is a really neat-oh audio conceptualization project for a festival. they codified a visual scheme for audio measurements in a pretty great way.

http://3st.com/#/projects/branding/3rd_coast_audio_festival

On Nov.23.2009 at 02:07 PM

obse.’s comment is:

Emily Nakkash said it better than me, but I was just trying to point out how some people try to take advantage of this place by linkin' to their own Portfolios in their posts.

Feels like Spam, but worse.

"Oh! This reminds me of something I've designed! Come see my Portfolio and hire me!"
That's the kind of attitude that bothers me the most.

Sorry if somebody felt touched by my post. As a non-american native I may have used some harmful language heard on TV. Promise won't happen again.

Anyway, I'm not surprised that being all designers you put the form before the content.

On Nov.23.2009 at 04:54 PM

shiftklick’s comment is:

Funny how a little old link can get people all riled up and make false assumptions. Temper, temper... lolz. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

On Nov.23.2009 at 08:44 PM

Bendy’s comment is:

A little bit of restraint would have gone a long way on this one...

On Nov.24.2009 at 12:10 AM

Ryan Adair’s comment is:

Not only is it a predictable and overused device, but it's a blatant rip on the New York City Opera's new identity.

Those techy, computery lines that in some abstract way are supposed to represent music is so 90's.

Maybe that's why the NY Philharmonic ditched their old logo (which used those weird sorta lines). Because, in the end, it's actually not musical at all.

I don't see what the hub-bub is all about, this looks like something i've seen a million times. I would have preferred something more thoughtful rather than something that looks like it happened by way of an accident.

On Nov.24.2009 at 08:59 AM

AP’s comment is:

I agree with Joe M. completely. too many haters on this...

On Nov.24.2009 at 09:48 AM

John Gilsenan IWANT’s comment is:

hi

and thanks in most part for your comments good and bad - this board has made me laugh and smile quite a bit - I was only talking to a client the day this was posted about how there is very little honesty on most design and music blogs with people just patting each other on the back... obviously I hadn't been here before. Anyhow I think it's only right on blogs like this to offer some context and background to the project.

We were invited by the event organisers 'serious' to pitch for the design of the festival at the beginning of the year - they had been using the same agency for several years and wanted a fresh approach. There were five agencies including iwant pitching and in there were some big players in the design world. Our design was picked unanimously by both Serious and the BBC and the design itself has pretty much remained true to the pitch ( there are couple of our other pitch sketches on the EYE blog).

As already pointed out, the LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL lock up was designed by Fallon and is the festival 'Logo'. We were designing this years festival 'branding', something we do quite a bit of, I think we have designed branding for six or seven fests this year. Our main aim was to give the festival a more contemporary feel whilst remaining quite classic/iconic in presentation. For years there have been various illustrations based around trumpets and saxophones and this literal approach, for me, was very tired.

I think Mark, above, sums up closest how I feel about the design - it was capturing an explosion of creativity, something about to happen something that could move in any direction. Using the lines and colours creates a strong sense of movement and energy overloading in the center with more clarity as the strands move out beyond the circle.

Funnily enough in Pavels comment above he says he feels Jazz is about an 'underlying control' and then says he doesn't get the dot? For me the dot is just that with the expressive lines emanating from, moving around and beyond. As for the 'should and shouldn'ts' I don't give too much credence to these comments as these lines weren't meant to be about notation or staves and although there is good design and bad design the last time I looked there weren't any rules.

Aside from any pretentious descriptions, essentially this is a marketing device that has a short shelf life and needs to have big impact in a short space of time and this achieves that. I have heard today the festival sales and reviews were excellent and the general view from the organisers and venues is that this has been the most successful branding in years if not ever - for me this is a project we are very proud of and without doubt, like most creatives, we are our strongest critics - well maybe apart from Ryan Adair up there...

And as note to Ryan Adair - please be careful my friend when throwing around libelous accusations. The LJF branding was approved in February 09 and from what I can gather from a quick scan, the ident you're referring too was unveiled in May 09! If you are going to be so venomous maybe you should have a look at how close your New York Philharmonic ident is to the Arts Council of England logo.

Cory - no blend tool, have never used it - maybe I should it might make life a easier.

Obse.s comment made me laugh the most - and thanks to Shiftclick for introducing me to the internet dickwad theory - nice. And I really must get to some of these design+technology conferences!

No tees made for the fest

Anyhow... again thanks for taking the time to comment - I have just uploaded a festival ident we have recently completed for 'Sonic Journeys' to our flickr - given the response to this branding some of you are just gonna love it - or not

IWANT John

On Nov.24.2009 at 11:11 AM

r4i software’s comment is:

The fliers and brochure designs are too good. I am not comfortable with the White color background, doesn't go with the Jazz festival theme a lot.

On Dec.07.2009 at 03:10 AM

Xris’s comment is:

Anything that even comes close to Swiss stuff has my heart. I dig it. It does the job and Sonny Rollins is playing, so who gives a bean about the poster anyway?

The big black dot makes it for me.

On Dec.07.2009 at 04:39 PM

Daniel miller’s comment is:

I have been trying to Gain access to this website for a while. I was using IE7 then when I tried Safari, it worked just great? Just wanted to bring this to your attention.

On Jan.23.2010 at 02:56 PM