The duotone concept has been applied to band name graphics and photography, also incorporating angles, to give the images a distinctive “Spotify” look. Plus, it needs to modulate its expression to appeal to different audiences and different nationalities.” He adds: “Spotify generates gigabytes of content everyday, which needs to be both familiar to their users, always feeling like Spotify, but also surprising, keeping users intrigued. “The brand was about music, expression and emotion – but its reductive brand expression making heavy use of black made the brand feel sullen, heavy and technical,” Maschmeyer says. This was part of the consultancy’s brief to shift the company’s positioning from a technology to an entertainment brand. The consultancy has broadened the exclusively green and black palette to 31 colours, added more “duotone” – two colour – imagery and photographs, and used new typefaces to extend the “limited toolbox”, says Leland Maschmeyer, co-founder and executive creative director at Collins. The new look has been designed by New York-based consultancy Collins, after Spotify approached them to undertake the project. Music streaming service Spotify has undergone a global design refresh, with an array of colours now injected into the brand.

Spotify brand palette