Material Sound

Many of our inner projects start from a single word or an image. This one began as an exploration of one of the most basic concepts of human perception—sound. Transmuting its characteristics into shapes and forms, we created the following visual story.

The richness of soundscapes surrounding us every moment is caused by the spectrum of frequencies, hearable by the human ear. There are common ways of visualization of sound frequencies, i.e. different colors or wavelengths. 

Our approach was to treat sound as a multidimensional space—a dot unfolds into a complex structure, just like when we notice new layers of sound when we listen carefully enough. 

As lines transform into reverberating spaces, the sound becomes a part of the physical world rather than a concept. To connect our abstract idea with something tangible and more familiar, we looked at the materials that associate with music and sound—copper and wood. Tactile and reliable, they remind us of the emotional power of sound and bring up memories about acoustic instruments or sound systems. 

Further developing this idea of the materiality of soundwaves, the main colors were defined. A minimalist warm palette combined with high contrast accentuated the materials and textures and brought in another layer of associations with electrical conductors, membranes, and wires. From atoms to acoustic spaces—we see how the sound is being born and how it becomes a force able to move human souls and minds.

R&D

Initially, we explored a direction with another color palette. Silver and black created sharp contrast, accentuating the cleanliness and purity of the metal strings, but it was not quite the right fit for the mood that we wanted to create.

A similar idea was considered for the creation of the reverberating chambers—we created several fascinating white shapes, which were not in line with the concept.

Another side direction was finding a color scheme which could represent the sound spectrum, perceptible by the human ear. We filled interiors with rays and dispersed light, transforming these spaces into something new.

Credits

Creative Direction:
Maxim Zhestkov, Igor Sordokhonov, Phil Bonum

Design, Art Direction:
Evaldas Cesnavicius

Year:
2020