Apple Music's new dynamic logo redesign was developed with Fred again.., audio collaborators NEST Acoustics, and creative agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab. Rather than simply animating a digitally designed logo, the team used an original musical composition to physically create the rippling visuals that now define Apple Music's new look.
The process is pretty fascinating.
Individual musical notes were played through a device that converted sound into vibrations in a shallow pool of mineral oil. Those vibrations created ripples and distortions, which were captured on camera through the Apple Music logo and wordmark.
It's a process called cymatics, which is the study of surface vibrations (typically via a plate, diaphragm, or membrane) made visual using a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid, in which different patterns emerge across the excitatory medium. The resulting footage became the foundation of the streaming platform's new visual identity and its new sonic signature.
+Read more: "How We Built a Tour Identity for Fred again.. That Fans Made Their Own"
Music Made Visible
The new identity is being introduced across the platform's content, marketing, and digital experiences. Beyond the logo itself, there's something interesting about Apple's approach. At a time when digitally generated imagery and AI-powered creative tools are becoming increasingly commonplace, Apple chose to make its new visual identity through a physical experiment involving music, liquid, light, and a camera.
And rather than treating music as something added to a finished advertising campaign, the company made it the starting point of the design process.
It's a clever bit of branding for a music streaming service, and a reminder that sound can be more than the soundtrack to a visual identity. Sometimes it can create the visuals themselves.
+Read more: "60 Years of the SM58 🎤 A Lesson in Branding"
