To celebrate the relaunch of the iconic Puma Suede trainers, Puma created ‘Suede Music’. The video below summarises Suede Music.
The Suede Music platform was a space to celebrate music, paying homage to Puma Suede’s long history of connecting music and culture. To plug the newly launched music platform, Puma wanted promote it by putting on an event — ‘Suede Stage'.
I was part of the small creative team that were briefed to produce the identity for the Suede Stage event and associated promotional material.
The Suede Music Platform
To give Suede Music a physical home, Puma took over a studio in Ladbroke Grove - London's 'heart of counter-culture'.
The result was a music publishing platform — a space to celebrate music and establish emerging talent, create content and share stories. Rapper Ghetts was invited to record a track to launch the studio.
Suede Music was due to feature a line-up of the most in-demand names on the London music scene.
There was no better time for the brand to continue their momentum by bringing some much-needed entertainment to what could have been a boring Friday night in lockdown.
The interactive event would debut new music via live performances which were streamed over social media.
Identity Look & Feel
We wanted the branding of the event to be heavily inspired by the Puma suede shoe itself — after all, the existence of Suede Music was based on their famous suede show.
The suede texture was used throughout the branding supported by the iconic stitching. Primary messaging was treated in a stitched look, complete with flourishes, such as the cotton fraying to give it a tangible feel. A variety of textures were used in tandem with the orange to create a vibrant, energetic and stylised look and feel.
“Connecting both music and culture has always been at the heart of Puma Suede.”
Ruth How, Head of Marketing at Puma continued; “It is important we can give a platform to the game-changers in music, and inspire new generations. We are so pleased to partner with JD to bring the Suede Stage to life, bringing fun and entertainment into the homes of many this February, whilst re-establishing our iconic cult classic Suede Shoe.”
Initial Stage Design
The Brixton Academy was hosting the event which would be streamed worldwide. The stage design leveraged the vibrant oranges we created in the key visual comms. The Puma stripe was used as a focus for DJ stand, while props included record crates.
Project Details
Client: Puma x JD Sports Category: Event | Identity Involvement: Art Direction | Design Agency: MSL • Year: 2020 Market Region: Worldwide (online) Software: Photoshop
