Navigating through the duality of preserving legacy while driving change, Barcelona’s beloved bookstore, Ona, embarked on an ambitious rebranding journey. With a commitment to nurturing Catalan literature and culture, the bookstore’s refreshing transformation reveals a clever fusion of the old and new, embodying a vision that culture, like a wave, is an unending movement of rise and fall.
Established in 1962, Ona is a cherished bookstore in Barcelona, offering an extensive range of Catalan books.
With a vision to reinforce its brand identity and safeguard Catalan’s cultural heritage, the new board of directors decided to expand and open a new bookstore.
Their mission was twofold: to physically house over 30,000 books and to imbue the brand with a clear and compelling direction that bridges its past legacy and future aspirations.
We began with an in-depth understanding of Ona’s vision and identified two philosophical pillars: the preservation of its bold legacy and the recognition that culture is a dynamic entity.
By leveraging the bookstore’s name, ‘Ona’ which translates to ‘a wave’, we crafted a metaphor that embodies both heritage preservation and continuous movement. This vision was then ready to be incorporated into a compelling visual identity.
The core idea of movement was visually realized through a design system based on optical illusions and balanced shapes, while the existing logotype was subtly refined for compatibility.
A primary palette of black and white was chosen to contrast the colorful books, with SangBleu as the main typeface, hinting at a literary background. This branding was meticulously applied across multiple platforms for a holistic experience, from the website and events to environmental graphics and signage.
Moreover, we captured this essence of movement in the bookstore’s shopping bags and shipping boxes.
The end result is a revitalized Ona, ready to make waves in a new era of Catalan literature and culture.
