As a former editor-in-chief of Italian newspapers la Repubblica and La Stampa, author and award-winning journalist, Mario Calabresi has spent his accomplished career unearthing and uplifting the stories that matter. But with the success of his newsletter, Altre/Storie, came an opportunity to reach new audiences. As Calabresi looked to bring his traditional journalistic approach to an exciting new media landscape, he teamed with Mucca to launch Chora - a company that strives to give voice to a wide range of authentic narratives, through an unconventional range of formats.
With Chora, Calabresi saw a chance to use the medium of podcasting as an anchor for something more expansive, featuring various different hosts - from TV, literary and journalistic celebrities, to influencers, vloggers, and personalities fostered by Chora. To bring that ambition to life, Mucca engaged its strategic workshop, using research and insightful exploration to unearth the core aspects of the brand's promise, personality and values. By staying true to Chora's authenticity, unconventional approach and championing of new perspectives, the resulting strategy helped Mucca envision how this company would exist and behave in the world. Their team also strove to create a brand that would stand out and be impactful in a quickly growing podcasting market.
The solution began with the logo - its characters were inspired by Chora's ability to bring a new perspective to a story resulting in letterforms that can seemingly be seen from multiple angles. Similarly, because Chora is a platform that amplifies voices, Mucca chose a speech bubble container. "We wanted the logo to reflect the power and importance of every person's personal narrative," explained Mucca Founder and Creative Director Matteo Bologna. "Not just of the podcast hosts, but of the subjects of each podcast episode."
Additionally, since Chora has plans to launch nearly forty podcasts by the end of 2021, it was vital to unify the different podcasts under the same media company to strengthen the parent but also to give each podcast its own voice. To do this, Mucca created an easy-to-use design system, leveraging photography and a wide range of colors to create flexibility within a consistent overall identity framework.
"We decided that every podcast cover would be represented with a photograph of the host of the podcast or a relevant thematic image," added Mucca Senior Designer and Brand Strategist María Silva Mora. "The idea was to tint each image, juxtaposing a strong color and a dark blue -- with color options specific to the particular podcast. That way, their team could create podcast images and covers that never look the same between each host."
Ultimately, Mucca's approach helped give Chora a stand-out identity system that they could easily maintain across all of its touchpoints.
Images: Courtesy of Mucca