Rendah Films wanted an identity system that would express their creativity and work as a street tag while projecting their technical expertise and professionalism. It all kicked off with the creation of ‘Monstah’, a mascot created from the letter R.

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We met Emily and Rob from Rendah Films when we were running the REAL incubation programme at Phoenix in Leicester. Rendah went on to produce a documentary focusing on creative practice at Institute. We were delighted to work with them again to develop an identity package.

APPROPRIATE BACKGROUND MUSIC

Rob produces original music for each Rendah project and we thought this this should play a role in the visual design. We developed typography grids from sheet music layouts and templates to produce square promotional materials that follow the visual tropes of music EPs or albums.

EMERGING FROM THE MIDLANDS

Rendah is colloquial version of render, a nod to local pronunciation and digital production techniques. When overlayed and rotated, the R from Rendah forms a shape like a camera aperture. We added an eye and a graphic mascot was born. When the mascot became the obvious way forward, Rob followed the same naming logic and called it ‘Monstah’.

MID CENTURY MONSTERS

As we were researching the history of film promotion including posters, titles, company logos and a wide spread of film marketing collateral it was a reminder that we were in a headspace that was producing work more in-line with Saul Bass in the 1950s/60s than something more contemporary. This work was simple, flat, iconic and unpolished and we were happy with that!

FILM QUOTES

We used a spread of film quotes throughout the identity to highlight certain ways of thinking about the construction of the identity. The way things end up looking is a by product of ideas and goals. We might use typography to convey X but we might use a colour to convey something else. This had to convey Rob and Emily’s lively personalities as well as their professionalism and integrity.

IT’S ALIVE!

We designed a very simple, clean wordmark logo. This would contrast with the motif and bold colours that felt quite tribal. When Rob said that he once had a skateboard with a motif that felt similar, we knew we were in the right place.

CREATIVITY AND DISCIPLINE

The identity system has to work in a variety of ways. It has to support video material at times but also stand on its own as a graphic language when text is the main form of communication. It has to be fun but it also has to do a variety of jobs.

A CATALOGUE OF MONSTERS

To future-proof the identity we created a colour system with a set visual contrast that could be reproduced in colours from around the spectrum. The fact that some colours are lighter and have to remain light to be identified as that colour (yellow for example) was factored in. The system would produce multiple Monstah motifs but the least successful could be discarded while the best would be retained.

MERCHANDISING

Its all about the swag…

PRODUCTION LOGO

We produced an animated sting for the production logo. This is a very short sequence, usually used at the beginning of a film to highlight the production company. We wanted it to be bold but it cannot take away from the film so needs to end quickly. We took a section of the drums from Monster Mash and changed the tempo and distorted them to create something new. The sequence includes the wordmark logo and the motif. Emily came up with the idea that the eye could flash to represent a camera going into record mode.

Now that Rendah have the identity system templates and assets they are coming up with fresh ways to use the graphics and creating their own animated sequences.

THE SEQUENCE

THE VIDEO

THE FUTURE

Working with Rendah Films was fun. We’ve had such a positive experience from the mentoring on the REAL initiative where we could see their business developing in between sessions to the filming of their documentary at institute. It was a pleasure to be able to work with them again to develop their identity.

Rob and Emily- we wish you the very best for the future and we’re around if you need any help. This is also true for other creative businesses that want to get ahead. If you need some advice, then get in touch, we’d be happy to help.

Here There Be Monsters. An Identity System for Rendah Films