Pearl River Piano 60th Anniversary Album: A Die Cut 60 That Reveals the Keys

A die cut 60 that reveals the keys

In 2016, Pearl River Piano Group turned 60. Following the Group identity project, Xinming Design designed a commemorative album for the anniversary. The cover is a sheet of golden yellow with a large 60 cut out of it, and through the numbers you see a black and white photograph of piano keys on the title page; open the cover, and the 60 appears in reverse on the inside. The album runs in seven chapters: Corporate Preface, Introduction, Corporate Honor, The Core Values, Product Info, Development History and Corporate Vision, held together by golden yellow, coffee brown, copper orange and black and white photography.

An album for sixty years

Pearl River Piano was founded in Guangzhou in 1956 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2012. By 2016 it had reached sixty years.

An anniversary album has a lot to hold: a preface, an introduction, honours, values, products, history and vision. Albums like this easily become a compilation of material: every page full, and none of them memorable.

So this album had to answer: how can people know it is about sixty years the moment they pick it up?

From cover to title page

The answer lies in the cover:

· Die cut: the 60 is not printed on the cover; it is cut out of it. The golden yellow cover is left with two holes in the shape of the numbers;

· Piano keys: behind the holes sits a black and white close up of piano keys on the title page. What you see inside the numbers is a row of keys;

· Broken strokes: the strokes of the 6 and the 0 are broken in a few places. The die cut needs this: if the 0 were cut as a full ring, its centre would fall out; the breaks keep it attached to the cover. The gaps also give the numbers a rhythm a little like piano keys.

Sixty years, seen as a row of keys through a number. Open the cover and the 60 appears in reverse on the inside, showing the colour beyond the book; the title page reads GZ PEARL RIVER SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY ALBUM 1956 to 2016.

The round Pearl River badge appears at the lower right of the cover and on the title page; the 60th anniversary emblem on the title page draws the 6 as a stretch of piano keys, with the 0 circling the badge.

Seven chapters

The contents page fills its upper half with a photograph of old piano keys, with the page numbers of the seven chapters below:

1. Corporate Preface: an old photograph of a grand piano beside the preface;

2. Introduction: a city skyline on the left, and four large figures on the right: first in production and sales for fifteen years, an annual output of 125,000 pianos, exports to more than 100 countries, and more than four thousand employees (figures as listed in the album in 2016);

3. Corporate Honor: a trophy and the silhouette of a climber, with a list of honours;

4. The Core Values: four numbered circles setting out four values and four key areas of support;

5. Product Info / Brand Matrix: opening with PIA / NO / TYPE in three large lines, then introducing the pianos page by page;

6. Development History: on a dark spread, a vertical timeline runs from 1956 to 2016 beside a golden grand piano;

7. Corporate Vision: a photograph of an aircraft and a horizontal line of figures.

Each chapter opens with one large image, and the text takes only one side of the spread, so heavy content still has room to breathe.

Golden yellow, coffee brown, copper orange

The album uses only a few colours:

· Golden yellow: the cover, the most striking anniversary colour;

· Coffee brown: chapter titles and headings, like the wood of an old piano;

· Copper orange: model labels and data bars on the product pages;

· Black and white photographs: piano keys and old pianos, giving the album a sense of time.

All of these colours are warm and slightly aged, so a manufacturing group's album reads more like a book about pianos.

Rules for the product pages

In the product section, every piano follows the same layout:

· Model label: a copper orange rectangle with the word model and the model name, such as GH212F, J6, KA132HM2, M125 and UP118F8;

· Main image: each piano set in a scene that suits it, a grand before a curtain, a carved upright in a Chinese courtyard, a European upright before an old town;

· Details: three detail images numbered PART 01, 02 and 03, showing the keys, legs, back and other parts.

The same rule repeats five times, so by the second piano the reader already knows how to read the page.

Deliverables and extensions

Cover and title page

· Golden yellow cover with a die cut 60

· Title page: black and white piano keys, the 60th anniversary emblem and the album title

Inside pages

· Contents page

· Opening spreads and text layouts for seven chapters

· Data, honours, values, timeline and vision pages

· A single layout for all product pages (model label, main image, three detail images)

Looking back

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Let the craft be the idea. The 60 on the cover is not printed but cut; the keys seen through it tie the number to the piano.

2. One large image per chapter, one side left open. However much content there is, each spread says one thing.

3. One rule for every product. Model label, main image, three details, repeated five times, give the album its rhythm.

An anniversary album works best when it shows the sixty years before it is even opened.

How to verify

· Client: Guangzhou Pearl River Piano Group Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen Stock Exchange: 002678)

· Website: www.pearlriverpiano.com

· Year: 2016, the Group's 60th anniversary

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3220.html

Further reading

· Pearl River Piano Group: From Badge to P/R Monogram, Rebuilding the Identity of a 60-Year-Old Manufacturer (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3014.html)

· Ritmüller: Making a 1795 Crest Readable Today (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3035.html)

· WAYCOMM Piano Brand Upgrade: A Crown Built from Piano Keys (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3128.html)

FAQ

Who designed the Pearl River Piano 60th anniversary album?

The 60th anniversary album of Pearl River Piano was designed by Xinming Design in 2016 for Guangzhou Pearl River Piano Group Co., Ltd., commissioned after the Group identity project.

What is special about the cover?

A large 60 is die cut out of the golden yellow cover, revealing a black and white photograph of piano keys on the title page; the strokes of the numbers are broken in a few places so the cut pieces stay attached to the cover.

What chapters does the album have?

Seven: Corporate Preface, Introduction, Corporate Honor, The Core Values, Product Info, Development History and Corporate Vision.

What colours does the album use?

Golden yellow for the cover, coffee brown for titles, copper orange for model labels and data bars on the product pages, and black and white photographs of piano keys and old pianos.

How are the product pages laid out?

Every piano uses the same layout: a copper orange model label, one scene photograph, and three numbered detail images.

Which companies can learn from this case?

Companies preparing an anniversary album, especially long established manufacturers; groups that need to turn a large amount of material into a book with rhythm; and brands that want to use print craft to create a memorable moment.

Xinming Design is a brand systems design firm. Its work centres on systematic judgment, turning brand strategy into structures that can run and be inherited. www.xinming.sg