Founder of the Polar Music Prize, Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, in 1989 he created a brand that raises musical culture to a new level. Then it seemed that the music industry market was filled with young creative stars who were creating a revolution on the stage, transforming their appearance, doing PR on their antics, getting into various situations, and pushing their music forward. I wanted something unforgettable, light, and complex at the same time. Not just funny performances on stage, but high-quality deep music that penetrates the heart, leaves healing notes in the soul for a long time.
This is how the Polar Music Prize came about. This is not a pop project, not a local “factory of stars.” Still, an award ceremony for honored musicians who created in the name of music breathed new life into simple melodies, looked for cherished motives to leave a mark on history. It was immediately clear that the Polar Music Prize was not a Grammy. This is a more sublime, serious, and important event.
The ceremony focuses on innovative music that crosses and expands boundaries, erases differences between cultures, unites peoples. To some extent, this may even be considered a Nobel Prize for musical excellence.
The logo with which the award started was not chosen by chance. It is a crown filled with different musical graphic symbols inside. A great illustration of what a brand is all about.
After a long time, it was decided to slightly change the logo so that the recognition was one hundred percent, but the symbol itself became simpler.
Bedow Creative Agency has presented a new take on the logo of the ceremony. The updated symbol is an improved version of the existing Polar logo, with fewer musical elements and a cleaner and cleaner look. To ensure readability in different sizes and scales on media, it was proposed to soften the outlines of musical signs to create the effect of a three-dimensional crown and not just an outline stroke.
The crown as a symbol of privilege, elitism, recognition is a frequent leitmotif in the design of many brands that want to show their importance and emphasize the company’s solidity.
In this case, the crown as a prize means a tribute to the music and the people that make it. This is an award for the merits of those who defend the right to create innovative music and bring it to the public without knowing cultural or social boundaries.
By the crown symbol, one can even understand that the musicians who are awarded this prize, like the king’s men, stand guard in the music industry. These are independent experts, insiders of the music niche who have contributed to the history of the development of music and have already managed to fall in love with the general public.
The logo also features a simple black font to represent the award’s title. The colors Polar Night and Midnight Sun have been used to create a sophisticated palette for the brand. It harmoniously associates the brand’s origin, echoes the old black and gold without creating a bad taste.
Successful transformation of the logo. The music captured in the crown is a unique style, the hallmark of the prestigious award, which many contemporary musical figures aspire to.
