The archive · Brand & Identity · Strategic decision · 2021–2022
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano's TUMB TUMB type dances to its music — revenue up 56.9%
Landor rebranded Milan's orchestra with a Futurist typeface that widens and narrows with the music; subscriptions and ticket sales rose 56.9%.
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano
What it had to solve
The ensemble was known as 'La Verdi' — and Verdi was born near Parma, so the name said nothing about Milan. The orchestra needed a stronger connection to its city, a more resonant image, and appeal to younger, international audiences and to sponsors.
How it works
The Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, one of Italy's most important orchestras, had a recognition problem: it was known as 'La Verdi', a name that evoked a composer born near Parma rather than the city the orchestra belonged to. It needed a stronger link to Milan and an image ambitious enough for an international stage.
Landor Milan's answer was an identity that behaves like the institution's product. The team developed TUMB TUMB, a bespoke typeface inspired by the Futura letterforms common in Milan, with serifs drawn from the angular architecture of the Duomo. The palette came from the Futurist art movement that defined the early-20th-century city.
The crucial move was motion: in digital media, the logotype and typography widen and narrow according to the intensity of the music being played, turning the identity into a living, musical experience rather than a static mark.
The rebrand was also a commercial success. Subscription and ticket revenue rose 56.9% to over €1.3 million in the season measured from December to May 2022, and the identity accumulated international recognition, including a D&AD Yellow Pencil in 2023, Eurobest Gold in 2023 and the Epica Awards 2024 Design Grand Prix.
Why it lands
- It rebuilt the brand from the city instead of the genre: Futurism and the Duomo make the orchestra unmistakably Milanese.
- The typeface is the product demonstration: letters that react to music show what the orchestra does in the act of looking at it.
- The outcome was measured at the box office: 56.9% growth in subscription and ticket revenue in the first measured season.
- The client trusted one bold idea, which kept the system sharp instead of diluted into generic classical-music imagery.
What it did
Subscription and ticket revenue rose 56.9% to over €1.3 million in the season measured from December to May 2022. The identity went on to win a D&AD Yellow Pencil (2023), Eurobest Gold (2023) and the Epica Awards 2024 Design Grand Prix.
What you can take
For an institution whose product is invisible, give the identity the same behaviour as the product: if the brand visibly moves with the music, people understand it before reading a word.
Since then
TUMB TUMB became the orchestra's enduring visual language across communications and merchandise, and the kinetic typography continued on digital touchpoints. The work accumulated international recognition — D&AD Yellow Pencil 2023, Eurobest Gold 2023, ADC metals, European Design Awards Best of Show, and the Epica 2024 Design Grand Prix — and the orchestra used the identity's momentum to reimagine its auditorium as a space integrated with Milan's social life.
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