You are reading my first blog post! I endeavour to create an interesting feed. It will include my writings on latest projects, sound design practices, synthesis and sound research in the film and multimedia industries.
Recently I participated in a challenging Sonic Branding competition for the Singapore audio company - Sonoport. They have offered a new chance for creatives to utilize their new Sound Animator - a tool that shares audio-visual sound elements on the internet. This is but one element of their innovative Sound Exchange Platform, making way for great web audio.
For this competition, participants were asked to design the sound of the Sonoport Logo animation. The animation features a few symbols forming the icon and title: soundwave, shell and treble clef. The company values include sound, creativity and cutting edge technology.
Before I outline my approach, in the following link you will find the winner and finalist sounds. Each sound has a remarkable simplicity and sparseness to it, which focuses our listening ability. Although we are capable of listening and 'absorbing' more than one sound source at once, especially through music, I am reminded here of the beneficial technique of 'less is more'. Perhaps this is most relevant in Branding than any other neighboring fields of sound design. The brand sound will be a new voice for the company, and strategy is critical.
Top Sound Brands for Sonoport (Note: Previewing the Sound Animator is recommended via Chrome or Safari browsers.)
My goal was to reinforce 'the sound of the internet', for which I chose to adapt the Dial-up sound. The sound is one of establishing connection, and it is well recognized. Although it is old-fashioned, I attempted to transform in a modern, innovative context.
I challenged myself to subtly re-interpret it rather than completely transform it, and was constrained by only a few hours before submission deadline. Ambivalently, it was easier to transform and redesign than I had anticipated; resulting in a loud 'maximal' approach. The main elements used were the bass sequence, percussion, pulse-code beeps and following ambience. This was derived from a more recognizable part of the Dial-up sound - the short buzz sequence you can hear at 0:13 (see video below).
It was refreshing to dive into this again. Earlier this year I had the privilege of meeting Sara Lenzi from Sonoport and Lorelei Project, as well as many other inspiring colleagues at the Audio Branding Academy. ABA is an annual congress and awards event that I highly recommend to learn about global projects and best practices. I learned how academic the field of sonic branding innovations can be; the research is fascinating.
Steve Keller hosting at Audio Branding Academy (Berlin, Germany 2015)