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Yamaha Premium Pianos
Posted by: Annette Gelling on 25th Sep 2008 in Keechdesign News
Keechdesign has created retail display and branded signage for Yamaha's most exclusive handcrafted grand piano range. The project ran from concept through to full production with Keech undertaking the entire process. The finished elements are to be unveiled in 60 stores throughout Europe, with the first installations already in place at Yamaha's flagship showroom at Chappell of Bond Street, London.
Yamaha Premium Pianos represent the pinnacle of handcrafted acoustic musical instruments, and our challenge was to provide an exceptional design solution to reflect this. The design schemes were born out of hands-on creative sessions between our companies with Keechdesign providing concepts and detailed design through to prototyping, manufacture, packaging and supply. We worked closely with Yamaha Design Studio London and Yamaha Europe GmbH.
About The Concept
The new branding consists of white text on a black geometric ground. Closer inspection reveals that the black element is an abstracted grand piano in plan view, with the laws of proportional harmony (as befits a grand piano) in full play. The deep black of this motif reflects that of the grand piano finish – the partnering with a white font extends the reference to the keyboard. We continued this dialogue between real product and display in every possible detail – the paint finish on the wall signs was chosen to match the slightly creamy white of the highest quality piano keys.
In terms of its feel, the branding is refreshingly modern for a product steeped in two hundred years of tradition – a deliberate development by Yoshihiro Katsumata of Yamaha’s London design studio. This approach mirrors Yamaha’s ever-present philosophy of traditional craftsmanship married with cutting-edge contemporary design.
In the physical signage, the text is etched and illuminated, giving a crisp, 3-dimensional quality. All the elements feature solid hardwood, in this case sapele, a timber which is used extensively in Yamaha pianos.
The floor standing elements are largely transparent, the livery being screen-printed onto clear vertical sheets to allow visibility of the showroom product through the branding.
About The Design
Each of Yamaha’s European dealerships will use a set of display elements. These consist of two types; illuminated wall signs that can be hung like framed pictures and 1.8m freestanding floor elements that can be positioned to suit the showroom layout. The floor signs are double sided so that the branding is in the correct left/right orientation wherever it is viewed from – a simple feature with a mountain of technical problem solving behind it!
Those of you of a non-product/ furniture design disposition, please switch off now. In order to achieve the correct quality and depth required to stand next to such an exquisite product, the display elements had to be as far removed as possible from the language of flimsy polyboard and card POS. This involved a combination of manufacturing processes to obtain the desired result: extruding and anodizing of aluminium; cutting, polishing, printing and engraving acrylic; laser-cutting and powder-coating steel. Not to mention the timber work; the vertical post on the floor elements requiring twelve internal saw cuts alone.
About The Team
We are grateful to Masazumi Kojima, Marketing Manager of Yamaha Music Holding Europe GmbH in Germany, and Yoshihiro Katsumata of Yamaha Design Studio London for making this a truly collaborative project.
This project would not have been possible without the prototyping, development and manufacturing skills of Form Design and Build in Cornwall and Broome Signs in Shefford who worked with great speed and creativity.
Finally, this is a pan-European project for a Japanese company that was designed, manufactured, packaged and distributed from the UK – and that has to be good news.
The following images were taken at Chappell of Bond Street London.
Posted by: Annette Gelling on 25th Sep 2008 in Keechdesign News
Keechdesign has created retail display and branded signage for Yamaha's most exclusive handcrafted grand piano range. The project ran from concept through to full production with Keech undertaking the entire process. The finished elements are to be unveiled in 60 stores throughout Europe, with the first installations already in place at Yamaha's flagship showroom at Chappell of Bond Street, London.
Yamaha Premium Pianos represent the pinnacle of handcrafted acoustic musical instruments, and our challenge was to provide an exceptional design solution to reflect this. The design schemes were born out of hands-on creative sessions between our companies with Keechdesign providing concepts and detailed design through to prototyping, manufacture, packaging and supply. We worked closely with Yamaha Design Studio London and Yamaha Europe GmbH.
About The Concept
The new branding consists of white text on a black geometric ground. Closer inspection reveals that the black element is an abstracted grand piano in plan view, with the laws of proportional harmony (as befits a grand piano) in full play. The deep black of this motif reflects that of the grand piano finish – the partnering with a white font extends the reference to the keyboard. We continued this dialogue between real product and display in every possible detail – the paint finish on the wall signs was chosen to match the slightly creamy white of the highest quality piano keys.
In terms of its feel, the branding is refreshingly modern for a product steeped in two hundred years of tradition – a deliberate development by Yoshihiro Katsumata of Yamaha’s London design studio. This approach mirrors Yamaha’s ever-present philosophy of traditional craftsmanship married with cutting-edge contemporary design.
In the physical signage, the text is etched and illuminated, giving a crisp, 3-dimensional quality. All the elements feature solid hardwood, in this case sapele, a timber which is used extensively in Yamaha pianos.
The floor standing elements are largely transparent, the livery being screen-printed onto clear vertical sheets to allow visibility of the showroom product through the branding.
About The Design
Each of Yamaha’s European dealerships will use a set of display elements. These consist of two types; illuminated wall signs that can be hung like framed pictures and 1.8m freestanding floor elements that can be positioned to suit the showroom layout. The floor signs are double sided so that the branding is in the correct left/right orientation wherever it is viewed from – a simple feature with a mountain of technical problem solving behind it!
Those of you of a non-product/ furniture design disposition, please switch off now. In order to achieve the correct quality and depth required to stand next to such an exquisite product, the display elements had to be as far removed as possible from the language of flimsy polyboard and card POS. This involved a combination of manufacturing processes to obtain the desired result: extruding and anodizing of aluminium; cutting, polishing, printing and engraving acrylic; laser-cutting and powder-coating steel. Not to mention the timber work; the vertical post on the floor elements requiring twelve internal saw cuts alone.
About The Team
We are grateful to Masazumi Kojima, Marketing Manager of Yamaha Music Holding Europe GmbH in Germany, and Yoshihiro Katsumata of Yamaha Design Studio London for making this a truly collaborative project.
This project would not have been possible without the prototyping, development and manufacturing skills of Form Design and Build in Cornwall and Broome Signs in Shefford who worked with great speed and creativity.
Finally, this is a pan-European project for a Japanese company that was designed, manufactured, packaged and distributed from the UK – and that has to be good news.
The following images were taken at Chappell of Bond Street London.
