R-Tunes

Modular Branding system

A new face and website bringing Rumantsch music into the 21st century

My Role
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Art Direction
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Branding
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Interaction Design
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UX Design
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UI Design
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Front end Dev.

Not many people outside of Switzerland know that one of our official languages is Rumantsch, and there are only about 60’000 people still speaking it. The record label R-Tunes contacted me after I illustrated the cover art for Curdin Nicolay, one of their best known musical artists. They needed a re-brand that embodied the Rumantsch spirit without feeling clischee or old-fashioned. I happily obliged. The result was a modern, bold branding system. Including a spanking new website, webshop, and blog.

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Design Direction
Finding the right angle

If there’s one thing that everybody in Switzerland associates with the Graubünden region, it’s the capricorn. This was the obvious first direction I explored. As well as variations of the R.

Unused Logo Proposals
Final Logo

Logo refinement
Splitting grain from sand

Because the capricorn was TOO obvious I srapped it and focused on the R as a mark (standing for Rumantsch). Standing upright it is the actual letter. But used in combination with the hand-drawn logotype I put it on it’s side – resembling the mountains. A bold color combination of red, flesh, and straw-yellow rounded off the look.

The website
‍‍Exercise in interactive branding

The “mountains” from the logo became an integral part of the branding system. On the landing page they  appear as interactive elements that respond to movement with the mouse.

Landing page intro animation

Modular branding
Every artist is an individual

R-Tunes is a small label, but represents most of the Rumantsch artists. They all vary wildly in style, so I wanted them to have some say in how they were represented on the website: Every artist could choose her or his on own colour.

Artist colours
Artist page color interaction
Henry is terrific with communication, creativity, and speed. He is accepting and interpreting critical feedback and turning it into something amazing. We are extremely pleased with our new brand and website! A designer like Henry is tough to find.
Silke Schmeing
Co-Founder R-Tunes
Artist navigation interaction

Custom webshop
‍Buying CDs made easy

Rumantsch music is amazing, so naturally people want to listen to it. But where to get the CDs? Through R-Tunes of course! I set up a custom webshop front-end complete with a pre-made contend management system. Every cd is colour coded in the artists main colour.

CD detail page
Artist detail page
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