To the experts, Universal Audio has been synonymous with innovative recording sound since the 1950’s. But when the brand decided to extend their offering to the mass market, they needed an expression that could voice the products’ superior capabilities…without being too noisy.
To help the icon resonate with consumers in big box stores, CBA created a clear and understated design system that packs a punch for Universal Audio’s new range of products, using photography to express what words cannot: the potential to create truly epic sound.
Universal Audio products have been the gold standard in rack-based recording equipment since the late 1950’s but largely inaccessible outside professional recording studios. With the emergence of laptop compatible recording products, Universal Audio needed to provide a portable option or risk alienating the new wave of recording artists. The challenge was to retain the iconic status of the brand while launching an innovative audio interface, that was clearly a category leader straight out of the gate.
Understated and refined, the packaging system simply heroes the long awaited portable device itself. Highly reminiscent of the larger Apollo rack systems, the design provided recognizable superiority and status cues to appeal to its core audience. Displaying the back panel of the device with the input and output ports was a simple and effective way to eliminate complicated technical communication.
