ROCK CITY //
AARHUS, DENMARK
Rock City is a music store located in the heart of Aarhus, Denmark. They specialize in the sale and repair of guitars - be it either electric, bass, or acoustic - and have been doing so for the past 24 years. The staff consists of musicians entirely, and they offer a great deal of expertise and service.
The following re-brand was made with focus on helping them communicate more clearly to their target demography, and show what Rock City is all about. Not only that, but more user-friendly and engaging website and advertising was needed to establish a stronger local presence, as well as compete with the vast amount of webshops available.
A grungy retro-vintage style of design was chosen to reflect their many years in business, as well as enhance the trustworthiness of the brand - with a modern edge for balance and contrast
THE WEB DESIGN
THE ADVERTISEMENTS
Tongue-in-cheek, humorous, and provocative are all important words that play an essential role here.
The intention is to make people smile, and make the ones who understand and have an interest in music feel part of a special group that can relate to the message.
The idea is based on the fact that guitars take a lot of time and money to learn and take care of - just like relationships. However, musician knows that guitars have a lot of advantages over relationships ;-)
Powerful and eye-catching typography that stands out in an urban environment,
with a short message that is quickly decoded.
Translated from Danish:
"Guitars are better than relationships - Reason #34"
"A guitar has 11 G-spots"
"Come to Rock City, where our staff will be happy to show you exactly where each one is."
The message can easily be adjusted, since it's entirely typographical. Making it more or less provoking, vulgar, or musically advanced is as simple as changing the "punchline". This allows for the message to come across smoothly in all environments and media with relatively low effort.
Below are examples of different "punchlines"/double entendres.
Reason #34 - "A guitar has 11 G-spots"
Reason #14 - "You're allowed more than one"
Reason #26 - "Turns on by the press of a button"
Reason #21 - "F# is always right by your hand"
(In Danish, F# is pronounced like a provocative word for genitalia, "Fis")
THE HANDBOOK
THE MERCHANDISE
Thanks for looking
let me know if you liked it!
