SthlmConnection was contacted by the Writers Guild of Sweden for a complete remake of their visual identity and a new website design. The organisation has existed for over half a century, but it has never even had a logotype, until now.
A new visual identity
They wanted their new identity to convey a message of professionality and that the organisation is in the front-line in the field of drama and culture politics. The new identity should communicate a sense of the guild as being accessible, modern, open and confident. Another important aspect of the new logotype and visual identity was to focus on the act of writing, since a common misconception is that the organisation represents actors rather than writers.
Almost immediately we had two concepts in mind – one of a hand-written logotype, and one of a book or some sheets of paper. We brainstormed around both of these concepts and came up with two logotypes that we felt were in line with what The Writers Guild was looking for.
The new logotype
The first logotype, our favourite, was a simple hand-written wordmark:
We reasoned that the simplicity of this organic concept would make The Writers Guild stand out among similar artistic guilds, and we found it to be a perfect balance between the modern and accessible logotype that we wanted to achieve.
The client, however, were not overly excited about this concept. They found it to be too playful and were unsure if it would convey enough seriousness and professionality.
Our second concept was a more traditional symbol and wordmark:
We felt strongly also about this concept and it really appealed to the client, who thought that the play on papers was exactly right, and that this more traditional concept was a better representation of their organization and members.
After some more fine-tuning and tweaking, the final logotype ended up to have a more elegant symbol and a light-weight font. The more we get familiar with it and see it used in print and web design, we are confident that this will be a long-lasting logotype.
Stationary and web
The logotype was complemented by typography, color palettes and graphic symbols that completed the visual identity in print and on the web.
Web development by Mikke Schirén, www.gimmikk.se
