Spotify Classical Branding
Adding a new app to Spotify’s family
Summer 2020
As part of my Spotify Classical product design project — which sought to improve the classical music experience for Spotify’s listeners — I worked on branding a new app.
User research had shown that one of Spotify’s best options would be to acquire, re-brand and add features to a classical-only music streaming app like IDAGIO or Primephonic.
Premium subscribers sought
The solution posited the strategy of creating another specialized app, as Spotify had with Spotify Kids, to create incentives for listeners to upgrade to premium subscriptions.
During the design process, Spotify’s Design Team published a new series of design principles, and urged designers: “don’t reinvent the wheel”.
In the end, although I had explored some novel ideas (see below) — my favorite being “Faces of Classical” — I ultimately returned to the simplest, most direct branding solution: the classic black & white option.
Explorations: Logo
I began the branding process by brainstorming music terms, symbols, instruments, ideas — which presented a host of options to explore.
Spotify + IDAGIO
Combines elements of both logos
Classic black & white
Inspired by: music notation, piano keys, elegance
Grayscale
Inspired by: minimalism, simplicity
Musical notation
Inspired by: musical symbols, the fermata
Gradients
Inspired by: dynamics, emotion
Wood tones
Inspired by: string instruments, violin, texture
Faces of Classical
Concept: An ever-changing logo that would regularly showcase a different composer, artist or conductor from all periods of classical music, even as the Spotify logo in the lower right would remain the same
Top row (left to right): Maria Callas, Ludwig van Beethoven, Gustavo Dudamel, St. Hildegard of Bingen, Yo-Yo Ma, Clara Schumann, Johann Sebastian Bach
Bottom row (left to right): William Grant Still, Martha Argerich, J’Nai Bridges, Wolgang Amadeus Mozart, Ariane Matiakhl, Dennis Brain, Midori
Explorations: Type
While working on mark designs, I explored a series of typographic ideas ranging from the obvious — using Spotify’s Circular font — to various serif and sans serif faces that would convey the sophistication and personality of IDAGIO.
Deciding to keep it simple
In the end, the best design solution for brand cohesion also was the simplest — use Circular, Spotify’s typeface. And although I felt like I had proverbially traveled all the way around the block just to get back home, the journey proved enlightening.
Finally, I created a simple design system that re-purposed many of IDAGIO’s icons in the new Spotify Classical style. As an homage to IDAGIO, I kept the purple accent color of the classical music streaming app.
Other case studies from the Spotify Classical project:
🖋️ Spotify Classical: UX Research