Expressive, collaborative branding for the world’s first disabled-led national youth orchestra

The National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) is a world first – an ambitious national youth orchestra launched in September 2018 to give some of the UK’s most talented young disabled musicians a platform. It promotes musical excellence, empowering disabled and non-disabled musicians aged 11-25 to train and perform together as members of a pioneering ensemble.

Fiasco Design collaborated with the team at NOYO to create a system that allows its members to compose bespoke icons, that in turn feed into on and offline applications, putting the young people at the heart of the organisation's branding.

These bespoke icons are then combined with an accessible, easy-to-read font – designed for people with learning disabilities, and a vibrant colour palette to create an expressive, playful visual identity that reflects the organisation's creative side.

Ben Steers, Creative Director of Fiasco Design said: "Right from the off we had the idea of involving the orchestra’s members in the creation of the branding. Our plan was to create a web app that allowed them to do this digitally, however, due to budget restraints, this idea was parked and instead, we went for an analogue, hands-on approach.

"The outcome is a highly collaborative and creative process that means their members are able to directly influence the branding and keep it evolving over time."

All featured images are concepts for posters, business cards, merchandise. To find out more, visit www.fiasco.design.