The archive · Brand & Identity · Strategic decision · 2024
Dansekampen's D+K logo becomes a remixable dancer for Norway's inclusive dance battle
For a new Norwegian dance competition for people with intellectual disabilities, the letters D and K become one dancing logo that can be remixed into any style.
Dansekampen
What it had to solve
Dansekampen (The Dance Battle) is a new dance competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities, organized by the Norwegian Dance Federation. A brand-new event, it needed a visual identity before audiences had any reason to recognise it.
How it works
Dansekampen (The Dance Battle) is a new dance competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities, organized by the Norwegian Dance Federation. As a first-time event it had no accumulated brand recognition, so the visual identity had to do the work of making the competition feel real, welcoming and worth taking part in.
The identity was centred on a bold, dancing logo symbol: by combining the letters D and K, a dancing character is formed. Instead of a static monogram, the mark was designed to be remixed into a range of dancing characters, so the same two letters can mirror the movements of street styles, performing arts or sports dance in different poses.
Placing the joy of dance and movement at the core of the brand meant the identity could be serious about competition without losing warmth. The flexibility of the system lets the event change its face with each discipline while staying recognisable, which matters most when an event is still building its name.
The work is preserved in D&AD's Branding archive, which records no reach figures. The case rests on the idea itself: a two-letter monogram that dances, and can be redrawn to dance in any style.
Why it lands
- Wordmark and picture are the same object: the D and K letters are the dancer, so the brand never splits from the idea it communicates.
- Remixability mirrors the event: the logo can reflect different dance styles while remaining one recognisable mark, giving a first-time competition a system rather than a single static image.
- Basing the identity on joy and movement frames the competition around dance itself, not around disability, which is the inclusive posture the event was created to take.
- A single bold character works for a new event with no brand equity: one memorable figure is easier to build recognition with than a scattered set of motifs.
What it did
The event got a flexible system in a single symbol: one D+K figure that can be redrawn to mirror any dance style, with the joy of dance and movement placed at the core of the brand. The work is preserved in D&AD's Branding archive, which records no reach figures.
What you can take
When an event's essence is movement, let the logo move too: one D+K figure that can be redrawn into different dance poses gives a young brand a whole system in a single mark.
Since then
The identity is preserved in the D&AD Awards archive and the D&AD Annual, and the agency behind it was credited in the awards' branding category. The page records no metrics, so the case stands on the system itself: a logo formed by the letters D and K that can be remixed into a range of dancing characters, giving a brand-new competition one mark flexible enough to move with every dance style.
Sources
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