Tiny Desk Concerts

01. DESIGN CHALLENGE

Tiny Desk Concerts is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR Music at the desk of former All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen in Washington, D.C.

The first Tiny Desk Concert came about in 2008, Boilen and NPR Music editor Stephen Thompson left South by Southwest frustrated that they couldn't hear the music over the crowd noise.

To redesign the show branding for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. The package includes the open, close, lower thirds, print logo.

02. RESEARCH

The general process involved looking into different aesthetics that people within the modern day tend to associate with music. Catering to a younger audience the visuals have to be in theme, yet not distracting, and instead empower the artists seen within the videos.

The original logo has been in use since 2008, when the ‘tiny desk concerts’ branding was first conceptualized. The goal is to find what can be improved and changed about the logo, so as to keep the general vibe of the original, all the while updating it for a modern audience in 2024.

03: IDEATIONS

After going through a multitude of videos and performances going back to 2016, the general vibe and aesthetics seems to have stayed the same for almost a decade now. This served as an exploration of the general aesthetics of different videos and performances found on the ‘NPR MUSIC’ Youtube channel.

With that in mind, the process then went towards working on the initial design approaches.

DESIGN 01: TINY SWISS CONCERTS

By taking inspiration from artist 'Mike Joyce,' the general feel would include heavy focus on the Swiss design style of artwork. Having the general shape be still recognizable as the original tiny desk concerts logo, but more focused and less loose with one font choice, rather than two contrasting ones of the original.

DESIGN 02: TINY BOARD CONCERTS

After taking a look at the typography found in ‘billboard’ magazine; the font choices seen within the magazine itself was what caught my eye, not the billboard logo itself, but rather the ‘flecha’ font that goes along with it. For a more low-key, yet neat look. With a simple, yet identifiable shape.

04: DEVELOPMENT

After the selection of the first design approach, the general notes were to heavily refine my original logo. Making the logo less rigid, the text less heavy, differing font widths, generally adding more text hierarchy.

ANIMATION OPEN FIRST PASS

With the first pass, the general requirements were that of rough timing out of the animation itself, along with rough audio that will be adjusted later on. Afterwards, with the approved logo, more adjustments were to be made, along with a adjusting the beginning of the animation to something more complex, rather than just a simple fade in.

ANIMATION OPEN SECOND PASS

At this point, extra tweaks and minor adjustments were a part of the general notes given for the second pass. Kerning of the text, the timing of the animation and when the final text shows up, in what order, etc.

FONT CHOICE:

Circular Std Bold and Book

ANIMATION OPEN REVISIONS PASS

The final animation changes that neede to be made were even smaller, simple kerning changes and size tweaks for the top 'Tiny Desk' change. Afterwards, the process of applying the same general design shape and text across merchandise, a lower third bug, as well as an end credits for NPR's YouTube channel could begin.

ANIMATED LOWER THIRD

Using the same general square shape, but now as a framing device for the artist show within their YouTube Videos, along with the title of their songs below. Adjusted to fit the 1920 by 1080 format, while not clashing with YouTube's video player.

ENDING CREDITS

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

Along with physical merchandise, a few faux social media post mock-ups were created utilizing the final logo. One on YouTube, one on Instagram, and the final one being the NPR Music App.

COLOR VARIATIONS

By using the central primary colors from the 'NPR' logo, I accentuated my existing logo sprinkling in reds and blues so as to not be too bold and make the logos too overwhelming to look at.

ARTIST POSTERS

Using official photographs found within NPR's website, these are posters similar to the 'Lower Third' bug, in the sense that they frame the artists involved within the picture. With the same font and text style.

MERCHANDISE

Using the finalized logo, a few mock ups were finished up so as to give an idea of what the merchandise and atmosphere of this new era of merchandise would be like.