The new human-crafted Apple Music brand matters in an AI world
The new human-crafted Apple Music brand matters in an AI world
Apple Music has launched a new brand image using the Liquid Glass design language. The production team used mineral oil and transducers to convert audio signals into physical ripples, filming the interaction between the oil and the brand logo on a transparent panel.
Apple just revealed a new brand identity for Apple Music, with the expected turn to Liquid Glass. I’m not much of a fan of their new design language in general; this is where I admit that I’m still running MacOS Sequoia and have grumpy things to say about rounded corner radii and text legibility.
It’s just a trend, it will pass, and at some point I’ll probably cave and upgrade when it starts actually affecting my ability to get work done, or more importantly get security updates. Once I adjust, I’ll stop noticing it, and life will go on.
As such, I wouldn’t normally find an obvious rebrand like this notable, much less feel like I had much to say about it. But then I happened to catch Apple’s behind-the-scenes video in my YouTube recommendations, and I realized I did have thoughts.
It’s a short clip, respecting your time at just a little over a minute long if you want to watch for yourself.
Let’s get the obvious part out of the way: It’s pretty peak Apple. More than a little pretentious, with all the resources a $5 trillion market cap can bring to bear on every problem.
There’s a design agency (TBWA/Media Arts Lab), a pop hitmaker music producer (Fred again.. and yes, that’s how you spell it), a whole crewed set with cameras and lighting, and a mineral oil tank equipped with a transducer to effectively transmit audio signals into physical ripples.
They shot a ton of footage of the oil (chosen for its higher viscosity) interacting with the branding printed on transparent panels. Fast Company has a nice detailed breakdown of the technical aspects if you want to dig in more.
Source: Ars Technica · AI · arstechnica.com