Seal Records is a full production vinyl manufacturer, reseller, social club, recording studio, and archive.
With feet in several industries, Seal’s identity needed to be equally encompassing—acknowledging the company’s history and future. The secondary visual identity—a blooming red dot, which Seal calls the Reid Dot—speaks to Seal’s marriage of the past, present, and future, with nods to Blue Note Label Designer Reid Miles and his first LP design, Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet.
The company’s marketing plays into this idea of old + new, with a campaign targeting NYC subways. The first three posters are “wrong guesses”, highlighting the miscommunication of the company’s name. The latter posters are “affirmative responses”, that praise the viewer and provide a vague idea of what Seal Records truly is. If viewers want to find out more, they needn't look further than the text on the posters where they can find Seal’s address, beckoning.
The video branding is just as intentional, versatile, and exciting. The company creates an informal banter with the viewer, assuming a striking familiarity from inside a conference room. Each ad features Creative Commons / Public Domain footage accompanied by a highlighted single (Clairo, Dijon, Sondheim, Chapell Roan, Art Lown Christophe). Each blip has a “hook and line”. The hook, designed in Scotch Deck Light (a serif, alluding to oldstyle and the company’s past), and the line designed in PP Neue Montreal, (sans serif—the company’s future).
Played alongside Art Lown's 'What It Takes to Make You Love Me'.
Played alongside Unreleased Dijon 'You & I Combined'.
Played alongside Christophe's 'Aline'.
Played alongside Clairo's 'Sexy to Someone'.
Played alongside Stephen Sondheim's 'Another Hundred People'.
Played alongside Chappell Roan's 'Picture You'.
Played alongside Roseboro + Semones' 'The Water's of March'
Played alongside Boygenius' 'Me & My Dog'
The Reid Dot is a versatile tool and functions as a symbol that leads back to Seal as a company.
Committed to the future as much as the past, Seal offers online services. The Seal website is a dynamic platform where visitors can browse the company’s vinyl stock—including limited edition ‘Seal’ pressings of music.
Seal is in the business of connecting people with experiences, resources, connections, and good music.
Seal was inspired by Jon Glover’s work at University of South Carolina’s Graphic Design and Illustration Program—specifically, Chi’s DESIGN 102 Class, where Glover received his first logo assignment. In creating Seal this second time, Glover’s aims were to elevate the original concept, bringing an unaltered depth to the idea and process. Glover was inspired by the internships he didn’t hear back from, Paula Scher’s work at Pentagram, Bráulio Amado, and the doodles in the margins of his notebooks.
