Pandora Music Player Rebrand

Pandora was one of the first, largest and most successful online music streaming services. Their music genome was fantastic, and their digital radio helped me discover tons of artists and songs I would have never discovered otherwise. Unfortunately, for all that they over musically, their design, branding and marketing has rarely impressed. Once Spotify started taking over the majority of the market share, it seemed like Pandora had no response and was playing catch up.

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Pandora finally underwent a rebrand in late 2016, opting for a vibrant 90's MTV-esque style. The oversized "P" became a frame for different patterns, images and graphics. While this was definitely an update, by no means did it establish Pandora as it's own brand with it's own identity. In fact, this same style was used heavily in multiple rebrands, including Freeform and TBS.

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In thinking about how to redesign and market Pandora, I was inspired by their name and reference to Pandora's box. From that reference I designed a "P" logo that is based off an isometric cube being opened. The opened side flap creates the "P," and a shadow gives the cube depth. The word mark is then based off the same isometric cube shape. The corners are rounded to help reduce the harshness and soften the overall mark.

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The blue monotone color scheme and particle flare background elements in my redesigned player were inspired by the original look of Pandora's online music player. Moving from a vertical scroll to a horizontal scroll drastically simplifies the layout and allows for integration of more artist photos and album art.