Brand Identity for Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The brief said the TSO felt prestigious but not personal. The sharpest critic says the answer leaned further into prestige.
Underline reimagined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s brand to better reflect its mission of connecting audiences with the emotional power of orchestral music. The new identity features an animated logo expressing movement and connection, supported by abstract musical forms that symbolize emotion and storytelling. The refreshed system extends across print and digital applications, creating a cohesive and contemporary presence for the orchestra.
Set in Items, Neue Haas Grotesk
Insights
- TSO’s problem was warmth, not quality: research found an orchestra admired for its artistic excellence that still felt distant to people who had never been, so the brief was to make the institution legible as something you could join.
- Underline’s framing is continuity rather than reinvention — co-founder and creative director Fidel Peña wanted an identity that could “evolve alongside the organization” — replacing an Interstate-era wordmark whose device inside the O read as either strings or a conductor’s baton.
- The centerpiece is the animated “S” in Symphony, designed to respond to the music being played, supported by abstract musical forms and bold round shapes derived from musical notation.
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