Long-established orchestra, Bristol Ensemble asked us to help them raise their profile. They wanted to be better positioned to increase their appeal to a wider range of people through their performances and outreach programme.
Founded in 1994, Bristol Ensemble is a professional chamber orchestra that performs a wide variety of musical programmes, collaborates with film and television companies, and employs its funds as a charitable organisation to run Preludes Music, offering much-needed musical education support in West of England schools.
Bristol Ensemble’s mission is focused on sharing performance and music-making with people of all ages, across all of Bristol and the West of England’s communities. As Bristol’s only professional orchestra, it plays an important role in the cultural and musical landscape of the area with its vibrant and varied repertoire encompassing a wide variety of styles. Their outreach programme, Preludes Music was established in 2009 and now reaches over 2000 children a year, 80% of whom live in areas experiencing economic and social challenges.
Evolving audience preferences have seen a shift towards people seeking experiences rather than just passively consuming art. At the same time, the sheer variety of arts and entertainment options means that the market is saturated and long-established brands such as Bristol Ensemble have found themselves struggling to be heard in this digital-first world. We were tasked with helping them stand out and attract the attention they deserved.
In addition to its performance programmes which can feature anything from a trio to a 70+ strong orchestra, Bristol Ensemble is a charity that uses its funds to provide much needed musical education outreach in West of England schools. The relationship between Bristol Ensemble and their sister education outreach brand, Preludes Music wasn’t as clear as it needed to be.
We saw this rebrand as an opportunity to clarify the relationship between the two brands and to imbue their stand-out with the colour and energy of the region they’re based in, bringing their mission to life.
Researching the category, we looked for best practice and also opportunities for Bristol Ensemble to gain that all-important cut-through. Audience research confirmed that they are a much loved and greatly appreciated part of the region’s cultural landscape. Following competitor research we surveyed the Ensemble’s musicians and ran a discovery workshop that included trustees as well as members of the education team and orchestra.
The workshop included a purpose exercise that explored the difference Bristol Ensemble and Preludes Music makes to people’s lives. Their passion for what they do was reflected in the moving stories of transformation told by the team – these not only gave us the material for emotive brand story-telling but also drew us towards our brand idea of audience connection.
In this category, the focus is typically on the musicians. Our discovery stage led us to turn the spotlight on the audience instead and, through photography, capturing those intimate moments of connection and emotional resonance that music creates.
We combined this with a typographic animation that moves through some of the verbs that express the effect that both the musical events and the education outreach has on the audience and students.
Photography also played a key role in communicating the wonder of learning an instrument.
Taking our cue from musical noteheads, we moulded them into a B+E shape which can then be used to create dynamic patterns that bring rhythm and energy to the brand identity.
As well as building a flexible brand system for the Bristol Ensemble identity, the noteheads lent themselves to becoming playful eyes for their education brand, Preludes Music.
With donations being so key to making the education outreach work possible, we clarified and strengthened the bond between the ‘mother and daughter’ brands, giving both logos a family resemblance alongside a tagline describing the relationship of Preludes Music to Bristol Ensemble.
There was an appetite amongst the client team to be much bolder – to reflect the spirit, diversity and colour of Bristol.
Through photography, we found a way to connect the musicians with the many and varied, well-known and less well-known locations in the West of England.
And commissioned further photography for the Preludes Music tutors, emphasising their relaxed and friendly approach.
All photography was specially commissioned – we brought in Co-Foundry collaborator, Matt Lincoln to photograph the audience, performance, players and tutors, giving Bristol Ensemble an extensive bank of images that is integral to their new identity.
We partnered with Bristol-based Jambi Digital to develop our designs for the site.
And prepared comprehensive brand guidelines and social media templates so that Bristol Ensemble’s in-house team is able to make the most of the new branding through easily-applicable, consistent implementation of the brand identity across all media.
We are so grateful to Sue for guiding us through our rebranding exercise. With her thoughtful input we have learned a lot about ourselves, which in turn has helped us to adopt a much more dynamic and creative style. This will enliven our interactions with all those with whom we come in contact.
– Charles Wyld, Chair and Trustee, Bristol Ensemble
