Hedkandi rebrand 2018
Hedkandi is a world renowned dance music brand famous for it’s lavish shows, uplifting house music and live performers. The brand’s artwork has always been a core ingredient in it’s identity, and needed updating to appeal to a new generation of House lovers whilst maintaining the loyalty of the more mature fan-base. The relaunch would extend to new events such as Kandi Carnival, and be pushed to an international audience.
I created a suite of illustrations, a logo, event artwork and merchandise.
Hedkandi is a world renowned dance music brand famous for its lavish shows, uplifting house music and live performers. The brands artwork has always been a core ingredient in its identity, and needed updating to appeal to a new generation of House lovers whilst maintaining the loyalty of the more mature fan-base. The relaunch would extend to new events such as Kandi Karnival, and be pushed to a international audience.
To remain cohesive with the fresh branding, the logo was tweaked to be made more contemporary but the nostalgic element of the typeface and iconic Hedkandi star stayed the same. This way the logo is still instantly recognisable and stays true to its roots.
The chosen colour scheme is a mix of bold pink, orange and blue. These tones work in harmony with each other and whilst still remaining androgeneous enough to appeal to both a male and female audience. To increase adaptability across printed artwork and merch, I created a simple monogram consisting of the ‘h’, ‘k’ and star.
Logo
Logo redesign for 2018. The logo ties in a fresh contemporary twist with the nostalgic aesthetic of designs from previous years. The logo is only used in black, white, pink, orange and blue.
Monogram
The monogram in particular was reworked as a placeholder for the new illustrations, which was then applied to merchandise such as t-shirts. This kept the logo fresh, modern and verstaile.
Illustrations
The Hedkandi girls are famous for their glamorous look, however years of a non-cohesive approach to the illustrations resulted in a brand that had visually lost its way. To bring back a strong tone of voice, I aimed to reconfigure the aesthetic and add a touch of class and style to the girls, focussing on female empowerment and diversity. I wanted them to look confident and striking but for the concepts to also represent a wide audience, something I felt previous illustrations were lacking. I created four designs in a minimal, abstract style inspired by the work of Malika Favré; flat, punchy and rich in colour with an undertone of retro.
The illustrations were used as artwork for posters, flyers, event banners, merchandise and social media.
If I were to undertake this project again, I would execute the illustrations by hand and then render digitally. I love the compositions and narrative behind each girl, however I think a style that is more fluid and realistic would create a nostalgic appeal for the older audience.
Merch designs
