The archive · Brand & Identity · Marketing decision · 2024
Sinfonia Smith Square relaunches with a rebrand carried by writing
When two much-loved music institutions merged, the rebrand as Sinfonia Smith Square let writing tell its stories and carry its ethos.
Sinfonia Smith Square
What it had to solve
In April 2021, the renowned venue St John's Smith Square merged with the much-loved Southbank Sinfonia to become one organisation. When the combined body relaunched in June 2024 as Sinfonia Smith Square, its comprehensive rebrand had to express the organisation's belief in music, art and culture.
How it works
In April 2021, St John's Smith Square, a renowned London concert venue, merged with Southbank Sinfonia, a much-loved orchestra, to become a single organisation. Three years later the combined body relaunched as Sinfonia Smith Square, and the rebrand had to make clear what the union stood for.
The creative decision was to let writing do the heavy lifting. As part of a comprehensive rebrand, words were used to tell the stories of the organisation's work and ethos, embodying its belief in music, art and culture.
The relaunched identity was presented in June 2024, and the project is archived in the D&AD awards archive under Writing for Design, with writer Nick Asbury credited as entrant.
Why it lands
- After a merger, an organisation's first job is explaining itself; writing could tell the story directly where imagery would only suggest it.
- Placing words at the centre made the rebrand feel authored, matching an institution whose whole purpose is artistic expression.
- Storytelling through copy gave the identity room to say what music, art and culture mean to this specific organisation.
- The choice treated writing as a design discipline, which is exactly the craft the D&AD category recognises.
What it did
The merged organisation relaunched under its new name in June 2024 with an identity whose meaning is carried in language rather than imagery alone. The work is archived in the D&AD awards archive as a Writing for Design case.
What you can take
When an institution's value lives in its culture, language can be the identity system: words tell stories that a logo alone cannot carry.
Since then
The merged organisation relaunched as Sinfonia Smith Square in June 2024, carrying an identity in which writing tells the stories of its work and ethos. The project is archived in the D&AD awards archive as a Writing for Design case, alongside other examples of copy-led brand work.
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