Articles 10 min read

Apple Music’s new identity: designed by sound, with a very human mastery

Novo ícone de nota musical da Apple Music em vidro refratado, diante de um jovem entre duas portas de madeira, em cena da campanha Made by Sound
The new Apple Music icon in motion. Video: TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

On October 21, 2026, Apple Music introduced Made by Sound, a complete brand update made with TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Fred again.. and NEST Acoustics. In this post you will see how the experiment worked, what changed in the logo, who is behind the work (with a highlight on the Brazilian studio Plau), how the Apple Music Hall fits into this story and what all of it teaches anyone who builds brands.

The logo
that music
drew

The team created an original composition and split the piece into notes and frequencies. A transducer sent those tones to a shallow bath of mineral oil, where acrylic pieces of the music icon and the logotype were submerged. The vibrations formed waves and refractions around them, and everything was filmed in camera.

  • Original composition by Fred again..
  • Music split into notes and frequencies
  • Transducer sends sound into mineral oil
  • Acrylic logo submerged in the bath
  • Waves and refractions filmed in camera
  • Footage becomes identity, motion and film
Made by Sound: behind the scenes of the new identity, on the official Apple Music channel.

Inside the
lab

The team built its own equipment and software to control the experiment. The oil’s viscosity was chosen because it produces ripples with a glassy look.

Each frequency generates a different pattern, and that allowed the whole composition to be translated into a coherent visual vocabulary. Swipe the images beside this text to see the rig, the tray and the logo taking shape.

Transducer suspended over a shallow mineral oil bath inside a dark chamber, used to create the Apple Music logo with sound
The transducer above the mineral oil bath. Image: Creative Boom.
Designer touches an acrylic tray of mineral oil, where colorful waves form the word music, in the making of the Apple Music logo
Colorful waves draw the word music on the tray. Image: Creative Boom.
Person in a studio lit by pink light, with mineral oil waves visible in the tray, behind the scenes of the Apple Music identity
Behind the scenes under pink light. Image: Creative Boom.
Hand playing a keyboard next to the acrylic musical note used in the sound experiment for the new Apple Music identity
From keyboard to acrylic note: music becomes form. Image: Creative Boom.
Apple Music logo in vivid pink, deformed by waves in the mineral oil around the transducer rod
The logo deformed by the waves around the rod. Image: Creative Boom.
Apple Music wordmark in black distorted by mineral oil ripples on a gray gradient background
The wordmark rippling over a gray background. Image: Creative Boom.
Acrylic musical note submerged in liquid under blue light, with waves refracting around it, in a frame from the official Apple Music film
The acrylic note under blue light. Frame: official Apple Music film.

Four pieces
in one
system

Apple Music logo comparison: on the left Apple Music in white on red, on the right the new lowercase music, black on white
Wordmark before and after. Image: LBB / TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

Wordmark. The Apple symbol followed by “music” in lowercase, with a heavier, more compact design. Project sources describe the word as a customized version of the SF Pro family.

Icon. The musical note was redrawn and became more expressive. In the static version released for the app, it appears in black and white in place of the familiar red and pink icon.

Motion. Waves, echoes and colorful refractions come from the physical experiment. That gives the motion a clear rule: the brand reacts to real sound.

Sound. Fred again.. and NEST Acoustics created a short composition that works as a sonic signature and also drove the physical installation. The same source connects audio and image.

The system presented in 15 seconds, with Fred again.. and NEST Acoustics. Reel: TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

The system in the campaign

The campaign is where the system shows what it can do. The wordmark stretches like a wave over concert photos, billboards get colorful DJ decks and the launch film brings it all together with Fred again..’s soundtrack.

Apple Music campaign piece with the phrase beat every heart over a DJ in a concert crowd, with the wordmark deformed by waves
Beat every heart: the wordmark deformed by waves. Image: LBB.
Artist on a stadium stage with the Apple Music music wordmark in motion over the image, among clouds of smoke
The wordmark in motion over a stadium stage. Image: LBB.
Apple Music music wordmark with colorful refractions on the edges over a black background, expressive version of the new identity
Expressive version of the wordmark, with refraction. Image: LBB.
Expressive Apple Music logotype in black with colorful sound wave trails over a white background
Expressive logotype in black on white. Image: LBB.
Expressive Apple Music logotype in white with colorful wave effects at the ends over a black background
Expressive logotype in white on black. Image: LBB.
Apple Music billboard in the desert at dusk, with DJ deck artwork in red tones and vinyl records at the center
Billboard with a red DJ deck in the desert. Image: LBB.
Apple Music billboard in the desert, with DJ deck artwork in purple and pink tones, photographed in late afternoon
The same idea in purple and pink. Image: LBB.
Apple Music billboard in the desert, with DJ deck artwork in blue and green tones, under a twilight sky
And in blue and green, under the twilight sky. Image: LBB.
The new icon in refraction. Video: Apple Music.

The official website already uses the system.

The wordmark, surrounded by rings of refracted light, takes full advantage of the motion the new brand was born with.

Animation on the Apple Music website with the new identity. Video: Apple.

The details
that deserve
precision

Part of the press summed up the process as “water”. The production descriptions closest to the project mention mineral oil, chosen for its viscosity, which creates ripples with a glassy look.

The base phenomenon was produced physically and captured in camera. The credits also list VFX, color grading, finishing and still-image post-production.

Captured in camera

VFX and finishing

On the agency side, these TBWA\Media Arts Lab professionals shared the behind the scenes on LinkedIn:

To see more of each person’s work: Lara Juriansz‘s portfolio, James Taylor’s D&AD profile and Lara’s profile on D&AD.

Who is behind
the project.

Brazilian
typography.

Plau is a Brazilian typography and brand identity studio, founded by Rodrigo Saiani. On Made by Sound, the studio did the typographic consultancy and the vector reconstruction of the logotype. In a LinkedIn post, Saiani said he worked with TBWA\Media Arts Lab on the rebrand and that the work was made without artificial intelligence, by hand. It is worth attributing this to him, because it is a personal account of Plau’s contribution. You can follow the studio on LinkedIn and Instagram, and Rodrigo Saiani’s portfolio is on Behance.

Want to meet more voices of type design made in Brazil? Read our overview of Brazilian typography in 2026.

Brick facade and four chimneys of Battersea Power Station in London, home of the Apple Music Hall, seen from the River Thames
The Battersea Power Station in London, home of the Apple Music Hall. Photo: Apple.

From stage
to icon.

A month before Made by Sound, on September 21, 2026, Apple opened the Apple Music Hall at Battersea Power Station in London. Apple Newsroom describes a venue designed for live sound and image.

Swipe to see the stage, the foyer and the Apple Music Radio rooms.

  • 600 seats
  • 48 audio speakers
  • 38-foot stage
  • 16+ cameras
  • Battersea, London
Apple Music Hall stage in London, with an arched linear light frame, exposed brick and tiered seating in the background
The stage and seating of the Apple Music Hall. Photo: Apple.
Side angle of the Apple Music Hall stage with red-seat bleachers and curved linear lighting strips
Seating and curved linear lighting. Photo: Apple.
Apple Music Hall foyer with a purple screen showing the Apple Music logo, wood panels, black steel structure and red sofas
The foyer, with the Apple Music screen and red sofas. Photo: Apple.
High-ceilinged foyer at the Apple Music Hall, with mezzanine, metal staircase, exposed brick and a curved red sofa
Mezzanine and staircase in an industrial setting. Photo: Apple.
Dark corridor at Apple Music Radio with framed photographs of artists and an orange bench by the windows
The Apple Music Radio corridor. Photo: Apple.
VIP greenroom at Apple Music Radio with red sofas, light armchairs, a dining table in the background and exposed brick
The VIP greenroom. Photo: Apple.
Greenroom lounge at Apple Music Radio with a red sofa, wooden coffee tables and artworks on the walls
The greenroom lounge. Photo: Apple.
Apple Music Radio dressing room with a wooden counter, round mirror, cylindrical lamps and a blue chair
The dressing room, with vanity and mirror. Photo: Apple.

This reading is mine: the closeness of the dates suggests an Apple Music that wants to be seen as a cultural and experiential brand, beyond a streaming app. I found no official statement linking the Hall and the rebrand as a single program, so this part stays an interpretation.

New Apple Music icon: white musical note in a glass square with colorful refracted edges on a black background
The glass icon on a black background. Image: LBB.

The static black and white icon is extremely reduced. The moving system is colorful, liquid and exuberant. That distance can be a strength, with simple recognition in the product and rich expression in campaigns. It can also be a risk, if the audience sees only the icon and loses the physical concept that gives it meaning.

Sober in
the app, vibrant
in the campaign.

New Apple Music icon: dark musical note in a translucent glass square with blue refraction, on a light background
The version on a light background. Image: LBB.

Red stepped aside.

Sadly for some users, red almost left the stage. In this research I found many comments from people furious at Apple’s decision. What few noticed is that Apple took the spotlight off itself to put it on the platform’s artists. With red taking over everything, how would each artist’s identity share the same screen without noise?

6 lessons
to take to
your brand.

You do not need a vat of oil to use the idea.
You need a rule that explains where your brand comes from.

Give motion an origin

Motion born from a rule gains coherence in any piece.

Show the process

Real behind the scenes build authorship in a world of synthetic imagery.

Test at the smallest size

The small icon is where the public sees your brand most, day to day.

Think in systems

Symbol, type, motion and sound work together as one voice.

Plan for variation

A shared logic fits different artists, genres and campaigns.

Call in specialists

Typography and vectors need people who live for them, as Plau did with the logo.

What is Apple Music’s Made by Sound?

It is Apple Music’s new brand identity, introduced on October 21, 2026. It was developed by Apple Music with TBWA\Media Arts Lab, in collaboration with Fred again.. and NEST Acoustics, and uses sound frequencies to shape the logo, the icon and the motion.

How was the new Apple Music logo made?

An original composition was split into notes and frequencies. A transducer sent those tones into a shallow bath of mineral oil, with acrylic pieces of the logo and the icon submerged in it. The resulting waves and refractions were filmed in camera and became the basis of the identity.

Did the experiment use water or oil?

Production descriptions point to mineral oil, with a viscosity chosen to create ripples with a glassy look. Some secondary articles summed up the process as water.

Was the logo made without computer graphics?

The base phenomenon was produced physically and captured in camera. The credits also list VFX, color grading, finishing and still-image post-production, which means there was digital finishing after capture.

Who created Apple Music’s new identity?

Apple Music and TBWA\Media Arts Lab in Los Angeles, with music by Fred again.. and NEST Acoustics, production by Optical Arts (directed by Joe Jackson), VFX by Time Based Arts, color and finishing by TRAFIK, mix by Model Citizen and typographic consultancy by Plau.

What changed in the logo and the icon?

The wordmark became the Apple symbol followed by “music” in lowercase, with a heavier, more compact design. The icon got a redrawn musical note and, in the static version released for the app, appears in black and white in place of red and pink.

What is the Apple Music Hall?

It is Apple’s live music venue at Battersea Power Station in London, opened on September 21, 2026, with 600 seats, spatial audio with 48 speakers, a 38-foot stage and more than 16 cameras.

Did a Brazilian company take part in the project?

Yes. Plau, a Brazilian typography and brand identity studio founded by Rodrigo Saiani, did the typographic consultancy and the vector reconstruction of the logotype.

To go
deeper.

Sources for this research: LBB, The Stable, Creative Boom, Fast Company, Creative Review, MacRumors and Apple Newsroom. Images and videos used for editorial purposes, with credit to the source of each piece.

A brand that reacts
to what it represents
stays in memory.

The question that remains is how much of this richness
survives in everyday use of the product.
The method has already proved the point: when a brand
has a verifiable origin, it has something to say.

My work with brands also thinks this way.

Shall we talk? →

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