Superlative

Space Bee SB01– Crafting and shaping an immersive identity for an analog legend.

Brand design

Brand identity
Design system
Typography

Experience design

Website
3D renderings
3D motion design
Art direction

Introduction

2018 and 2019 saw a resurgence and spike in sales of 80s and 90s nostalgia-inspired physical music such as vinyl and cassette tapes, especially amongst a market of music enthusiasts and collectors. Audiophiles, knowing that certain sounds can’t be replicated with today’s most common methods are looking towards timeless favorites and are putting new demands on the market: instruments with an analog soul but with digital accessibility.

Superlative is responding to this demand with their first product, a rechargeable and portable synthesizer. Kurppa Hosk was selected to help Superlative take the analog legend and reimagine its identity for the future.

Challenge

Superlative is devoted to creating the best electronic instruments for the next generation of musicians. Space Bee, or SB01, is Superlative’s first instrument and the world’s thinnest and first rechargeable analog synthesizer. However, when launching, Superlative didn’t have a released product yet, hence the need to create a desire to pre-order and back the product on Kickstarter.

Next to this, even though they only had one unreleased product in their pipeline, they wanted a website that would accommodate future products and a presence that could convey their vision of creating the best in electronic musical instruments.

Approach

In response, Kurppa Hosk designed a website that could grow organically as more and more products were added to the pipeline. It is easy to update with more pages within a flexible and functional grid system and can also function as an e-commerce site in the near future. Additionally, a product naming system was developed with a set of bespoke hieroglyphs as part of the product range branding. This automatically creates coherence among all upcoming products, while also giving them their own identity. To complement the identity, hyper-realistic renderings of the final product give visitors a genuine sense of the final product’s look and feel.

Outcome

Kurppa Hosk crafted a new brand identity, website and bespoke typography with the musician at the heart of every decision, just as the synthesizer was. The final outcome is a sophisticated and immersive ecosystem meticulously built for the future of music instruments and for those who use them.

Following the launch of Superlative’s new identity and of the Space Bee synthesizer on Kickstarter, Superlative surpassed their financial goals after only one day online.

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