For the Visual Identity of this revitalisation project, we combined the location’s history and characteristics to forge a memorable icon for both locals and tourists. Unlike most of the preserved historical buildings in Hong Kong, which are prominently colonial-style buildings for the officials or the wealthy, Shanghai Street has been a place solely for the grassroots since its establishment; and the style of these tenement buildings is called “Tonglau”.
Using a number of stylised columns in the logo, we aim to invoke a resemblance of the “Tonglau” building style. These columns visually prominent on these buildings’ façades, they are also structurally important as they form colonnades that support the buildings.
Shop signs don these pre-war “Tonglau” styled buildings, as they have always been populated by a mix of commercial and residential tenants historically. To mimic the shop signs, we deliberately mix the venue’s Chinese and English names on top of the logo.
The treatment of the English and Chinese names is intentional: being both official languages of the city, and English and Chinese signage going criss-crossing on the street is a common sight.
CREDIT
- Agency/Creative: Noiseless Design
- Article Title: Branding System of a Hong Kong Revitalisation Project by Noiseless Design
- Organisation/Entity: Agency, Published Commercial Design
- Project Type: Identity
- Agency/Creative Country: Hong Kong
- Market Region: Asia
- Project Deliverables: Brand Guidelines, Brand Identity, Brand Strategy, Branding, Graphic Design, Identity System, Research, Tone of Voice
- Industry: Retail
- Keywords: Branding, Brand identity, Identity system, Mall, Interior graphic, Wayfinding, Environmental design, revitalisation, heritage, old Hong Kong, 70s Hong Kong,
