Vamp Logo & Branding
Vamp is a fictional jazz record label company founded in Chicago. They aim to appeal to music lovers of all ages. Jazz music is known for unique syncopated rhythms, instrumental improvisation, and a vibrant, bluesy vibe that appeals to the emotions of the listener. For this brand, I developed a logo, a pattern, and merchandise to bring their story to life.
Meaning & Inspiration
This logo draws inspiration from the meaning of the word vamp, or vamping. In music, vamping is repeating a short passage of instrumental music. The name of the record label is fitting for jazz, as it often has long intervals of instrumental music at the beginning of a song, but it can also allude that music lovers will listen to the artists represented by Vamp “on repeat.” Keeping the musical meaning of “vamp” in mind, I wanted to draw visual inspiration from sheet music and musical symbols.
Repeat Symbol
The repeat symbol indicates when a section of music should be repeated. It can be shown alone which indicates that the music should repeat from the beginning, or at the beginning and end of a measure to indicate a particular section that should be repeated. It looks like two bars, one thick and one thin, with two dots next to the thinner line. Inspiration from the repeat symbol can also be found on the second crossbar of the letter “A” in Vamp.
Letter V
I constructed the “V” shape with the repeat symbol in mind, but also built the structure to represent counting into music starting: “1, 2, 3,” or “3, 2, 1.” As the shape builds, it starts with one line, then two, then three. (or if you go in revers, 3 lines, 2 lines, 1 line.) Together with the repeat symbol, the logomark symbolizes “vamping.”