Brand refresh and seasonal campaign strategy for Kaufman Music Center.
Kaufman Music Center is a premier destination for learning and listening to music in New York City. Founded in 1952 and located just off Broadway Avenue on the Upper West Side, it houses Manhattan’s largest community performing arts school and New York’s only K-12 public music school serving over 2000+ students of all ages, and a premiere performing arts venue hosting over 60 live presentations for 70,000+ audience members annually. Established with the mission of providing access without barriers, Kaufman Music Center proudly programs a comprehensive musical experience for students, performers, and audiences in NYC.
Client, Year
Kaufman Music Center, 2024
Primary Disciplines
Brand Identity, Brand Strategy
Building a framework brand system for creative flexibility.
This project entailed a comprehensive brand refresh for Kaufman Music Center, a cornerstone of performing arts and music education. The primary challenge was balancing artistic expression with the necessity for a consistent and adaptable brand identity. To address this, I employed a framework brand system that streamlines the core visual identity while allowing each season a bespoke brand voice and style. This strategic approach ensures brand recognition while allowing creative freedom to express an ever-changing and eclectic artistic vision.
In collaboration with Marketing and Communications Director Dianna Mesion-Jackson and through thoughtful analysis, we retained and refined a targeted selection of core brand elements. As the in-house Brand Manager and Graphic Desinger, I conducted a design audit of past brand and brand guidelines established in 2002 and 2014. Practical research was conducted through experimental design gestures for marketing campaigns and materials, exploring various color palettes, typographic treatments, and layouts. These creative experiments defined the baseline for the refreshed system, leading to the implementation of branded framework templates that define the parameters of the visual brand and serve as the foundation for the seasonal systems constructed each year.
This refresh prioritizes creative expression and brand consistency by establishing a framework that sets parameters allowing artistic exploration to flourish.