The best sonic identities are recognisable in three notes and flexible across a thousand contexts. That's a systems problem, not a jingle problem.
A sonic system, not a song
- A mnemonic — 1–3 seconds, instantly recognisable
- A tonal palette — instruments, tempo, texture guidelines
- Contextual variants — app, ad, stage, IVR, retail
- Emotional states — welcome, success, error, farewell
Design the negative space
Sound branding fails when it's everywhere. The most memorable systems are quiet by default and loud on purpose. We design silence as carefully as we design the mnemonic.
"You should be able to hum a brand's identity after hearing it twice — and never notice you're doing it."
Governance is the whole game
Sonic identities decay faster than visual ones because everyone with a video editor can 'add a bit of music.' We ship a sonic asset library, a licensing structure and a review cadence — otherwise the system is a beautiful document that no one uses.
