Ace

Sonic branding is more and more used as a way to create a stronger identity for an existing company. It's not often that our audio is at the foundation of a new brand culture. ACE wanted their branding to be completely integrated with the user experience of their new headquarters. Therefore, this was an opportunity to really tie everything together and create a powerful identity. ACE is an ambitious new network, consisting of multiple companies that will take on the challenges of tomorrow. Their graphical concept of making waves is the starting point for ACE’s aesthetic. Across all their communications, it creates the idea of something forever in motion, always progressing, bridging one generation to the next and making waves for a brighter future. Together with overall creative director @vincent venema, Smorgasbord (Dylan) en Marvin Koppejan from Woodwork we decided on making something energizing and welcoming, with a human touch, that amplifies excitement. We wanted to translate the graphical concept of making waves to audio, along with the 3 characters that write the name ACE. Finally, we wanted the sound design to add some contrast to the futuristic, clear visual branding that had already been developed.

Every sound is made out of sine waves, a periodic change of air pressure that sets things in motion. The higher the wave, the louder the sound. With multiple sine waves you could create more complicated sounds, like a drum. Historically, drums are used to communicate over distance, because of their transient sound that starts in one place and broadens out to reach people. That resonates with ACE, an agency with a clubhouse that functions as a huge drum. So we made a starting point in the musical tension with a rhythmic, analog synthesizer and added the occasional drum to it. Lots of positive things can happen when talented people meet, so ACE’s concept is exciting in essence. The repetitive, impactful drum sound that we ended up with really underlines that. To enhance the human feeling in the sonic domain we incorporated longer lines with physical instruments, such as strings and a piano. Rhythmically, the music starts with a 7/8 measure beat, which creates irregularity and excitement. After several new instruments add tension, we move to a four-on-the-floor beat, powering up all previous elements. So that’s the sound of making waves, creating inspiration. The 1, 3 and 5 second versions are all samples of the 2,5 minute version, capturing different elements for ACE’s sound logos, highlighting different segments of their company. To top it all off, the leading melody consists of three notes, using the a and c..

Vincent Venema // Overall Creative Direction ACE // Client CEO - Rogier Ijzermans Design Director - Sjors van Hoof Program Manager - Sander van de Bunt Smörgåsbord // Creative Direction, Brand Identity and Interior Creative Director - Dylan Griffith Art Director - Alex Frew Project Manager - Celine Wagenmakers TANK // Interior Design Agency Creative Director - Miriam Zuurbier Creative Director - Tommy Kleerekoper Interior Architect - Sarah Rowling Interior Architect - Eva Trip Interior Architect - Vincent Heck ACE // Building Dames2 // Contractor Brandwacht & Meijer // Interior Builder Roeland di Ponti // Creative Producer BLOK // Architectural Visualisations Woodwork // 3D and Motion Design Studio Creative Director - Marvin Koppejan Producer - Gayle van Bochove THNDR // Sonic Branding Composer - Max Gramser Composer - Han Kerkhof Film Director - Arno Stols