Designer profile

why do birds —
Stay Curious. Use Your Experience. Don’t Repeat Things.

why do birds defines itself as a creative, strategic audio-branding agency. Their successful projects are proof this is no empty claim. Among the agency’s clients are both large German brands such as Siemens and Deutsche Bahn as well as international brands such as Hyundai, SEAT and Gore-Tex. The Berlin-based agency loves new challenges and is constantly looking out for innovative approaches to realising their projects. The combination of audio and motion design with proven expertise in the area of branding contributes to their success.

Interview with why do birds

Red Dot: The brand vision was “Making the world more resilient”. How did you approach the content?
why do birds: Translating large, unwieldy brand attributes into concrete small stories often helps. In the case of resilience, the key was to get to the bottom of all the meanings of the term, such as “rock in the surf” or “like clockwork”. Those are images that are much easier to transpose into compositions. That’s how we came up with the continues ostinato, the main principle of Swiss Re’s brand sound.

When do you know that a piece of audio branding is really good?
Good audio branding tells a story and is recognisable. By that we don’t mean it’s like your next short-lived earworm. It’s about strong design decisions that stick with you over time. And good audio branding is encompassing. Audio branding will only develop its full power if it can be adapted for different touchpoints, from TV campaigns to events or interaction sounds on smartphone apps.

“Stay Curious - Use Your Experience - Don’t Repeat Things.”

All awarded projects

The success of why do birds is also reflected in the distinctions in the Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design: