DK redesigns Northwest Asian Weekly’s brand identity

Summary: The Northwest Asian Weekly tapped DK to update its brand to tie in with the eve of its 25-year anniversary. Modern and contemporary were some of the keywords. The paper was so excited about the new design, they ran a red emblem that said “new look!” on the top of the front page for several months.

Here is the original post announcing the new identity:

Northwest Asian Weekly's new brand identity

Coming from newspapers, I absolutely love art for media publications. Deadline-driven, especially. It’s so fun to make storytelling the main focal point, and use strong visuals and the right collection of words to do it. So when we got the commission to rebrand a Seattle community newspaper—the Northwest Asian Weekly—of course I was 300% psyched.

Front Page of NW Asian WeeklyDK’s Dipika Kohli filled in as a guest designer for the first issue of the year, a 16-pager.

We’ve been working through this like any other branding project. Ask questions. Build a brand statement. Come up with sketches that speak to that vibe. Here, this is more or less along the lines of “NW Asian Weekly: An optimistic window to the world.” Hence the little “window” above the “i.” Like it?

More on this project as the page design unfolds.

Update: September 2007

Design Kompany got a nice writeup in the Northwest Asian Weekly about how we arrived at this exact design for the newspage design and brand identity. Reporter Michelle Kang interviewed Dipika Kohli, here’s part of the story:

Kohli explained that the logo’s gold square comes from a conversation she had with the paper’s chief staff, including publisher and founder Assunta Ng, editor Carol Vu and associate editor Ann-Marie Stillion. “We talked about how the paper should be a window on global issues, and I loved that idea. The box represents that window,” Kohli explained.

The result is what you hold in your hands now: a logo and layout that is clean and sophisticated, but still communicates the energy and accessibility of a local community paper. –Michelle Kang, full story in the Northwest Asian Weekly

Update: November 2007

This is how the paper is looking with the new design! I just picked it up at one of those boxes outside the Post Office on 3rd and Union. It’s so nice to see it in real life, changing from week to week but still in sync with our “window to the world” brand identity concept. Clearly all the talking we do as part of brand design helps people solidify their outward image. Yay!

Northwest Asian Weekly redesign by Design Kompany 2007
Northwest Asian Weekly redesign

Update: March 2008
It’s so fun to see the new page design whenever I happen to be downtown anywhere near Pioneer Square or the International District.

Found this and thought it would give you a picture of the community newspaper in context.

Northwest Asian Weekly Seattle newspaper redesign

Check out the front page–running a large picture in the center column and stories down the sides was one of the front page template options we provided as part of the total newspaper redesign.

Update: September 2008

The Northwest Asian Weekly just changed its editorial and design staff. I’ve been looking at the recent issues and seeing how the new editor and layout designer are trying things out. It’s cool to see people experimenting with a fixed framework to try out new visual layouts. I hope they enjoy using the style guide and page templates Design Kompany created as part of our project.

DK Portfolio

Update: October 2008

I just picked up another issue of the Northwest Asian Weekly.

Northwest Asian Weekly

Interestingly, the new staff is getting to try out their own kinds of design styles on the layout for the paper. That means some of the typefaces and column-widths and other formatting-related specs we’d recommended might change. I like the way there’s a person on the front right-hand corner. Prime real estate, that. A lot can change, but then, everything is an evolution.

The good news for DK is, they’re keeping the flag we designed.

And using the same logo we created, too. Phew!

9 Responses to “DK redesigns Northwest Asian Weekly's brand identity”


  1. Gravatar Icon 1 Angie Aug 9th, 2007 at 3:35 pm

    it’s perfect! even though you know how I feel already… ;)

  2. Gravatar Icon 2 dipika Aug 12th, 2007 at 7:54 pm

    Thanks! Each brand identity tells a different story–getting to it is the fun.

  3. Gravatar Icon 3 john Sep 27th, 2007 at 10:22 am

    nice work! that paper sure needs some help. i’m looking forward to seeing it when it comes out.

  4. Gravatar Icon 4 dipika Sep 27th, 2007 at 12:40 pm

    Thanks, John…

    Today’s the day!

    [More about the Northwest Asian Weekly redesign]

  5. Gravatar Icon 5 eddie Sep 27th, 2007 at 7:19 pm

    ooooo i love the orange hue :) the square of the “i” works perfectly there. you minimalistic freaks make me sick ;) haha just kidding. very nice work.

  6. Gravatar Icon 6 Mara Sep 30th, 2007 at 7:47 pm

    OMG, you’re famous!! They should’ve put you ABOVE the fold, with picture. :-)

  7. Gravatar Icon 7 dipika Oct 1st, 2007 at 1:34 pm

    Hey Eddie and Mara,

    Thanks for checking in :) I’m looking forward to seeing both of y’all this week.

    TTYS,

    Dipika

  8. Gravatar Icon 8 Kabonfootprint Aug 23rd, 2008 at 6:03 am

    I always love the orange part of it. So black with orange would just does is for me. Will make a new logo for my own based on this. :)

  9. Gravatar Icon 9 Frontpage Templates Jan 24th, 2009 at 6:44 pm

    Those are a great color combination. It’s amazing what a simple font and color will do. The orange really makes it stand out.

Leave a Reply







Healthcare industry client enjoys Design Kompany What Clients Say People of DK

Work and portfolio of DK.

Contact DK DK helps you figure out who you are, why you matter, and why customers should care.

Think through how you're different from the inside out.

Let DK help you find the voice to inspire and motivate the exact people you'd love to work with.

We've helped dozens of businesses differentiate themselves in Seattle, Cork, Raleigh, and Tokyo. Try us for an international, modern style of graphic design.

Work



A1A
Allied Arts of Seattle
Atlantic School of English
Blitz!
Blue Gecko
The Broader View
Bonanzle
Case Design + Project Management
Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce
C'ODA
Counting Stars
D+A Studio LLC
Flow
Global Village conference
Group3 Architects LLC
Good Dog Art
Gupta Insurance & Financial Services
Hindsight Veterinary Care
Joji Minatogawa Architects
Kikokugo
Matchbox Mobile
MD Systems
Million Monarchs
Miyabi
Modern Business Training Services
Northwest Asian Weekly
Open Money
Petites Fleurs
Potters Bar
Portland Paws
Real Science
Redpill
Revolt
Row House Cafe
Spaccarotelli
TILU
World Beer Festival
Write with Meaning
Vibrance Nutrition + Fitness
Zenovation



DK in public



Guest post on Processed Identity
Lori Waxman reviews DK's Sharpie art
McGraw-Hill asks DK to judge in architecture competition
Northwest architects invite DK to talk branding
Seattle art gallery solo show
Watch our blog get critiqued
DK sponsors a park opening
Invited to University of Washington design school's professional night
Second short film screening in Seattle
Seattle Tech Startups invites DK to speak on branding
First short film at Southeast Asian Womens Film Festival in Seattle

 

aaron barker animation anime architect architects architecture art art direction art gallery artist trust artists beautiful simple belgian beer belltown blog brand brand identity brand message brand identity brand message branding brochure brown bag lunch business cards capitol hill capitol hill chamber of commerce capitol hill capitol hill community co working coasters collage color palette community contemporary art conversations copenhagen counting stars creative process creatives cupcake design design company Design Inspirations design kompany designers designers korner desk notes drawing drawings dream kitchen dream kitchen film films flow form/space atelier furniture design gallery glass sinks gnomedex graffiti graphic design graphic design graphic designers happy hour happy hour home alive identity identity design illustration illustrator image images inspiration Interesting Finds international district invitation japanese restaurant journalism kane hall korner layout logo logo design logo design love lunch magazines mark selleck marketing message miyabi moma monk mood board moving pictures moving pictures name names naming naruto neighborhood networking new business News at DK newspage design nick licata nonprofit Northwest northwest asian weekly northwest film forum nutrition nwen olympic sculpture park pentagram photo photograph photographs Photography photos psychographics rebrand Sakura samurai scandinavia sculpture park seattle seattle art museum seattle center seattle central community college seattle public library seattle times seminar short film short film sketch sketches spring start storytelling stranger stumbling monk tukwila typefaces urban craft uprising vermillion visual identity web site web site design white space youtube

Newsletter!


Email
Name


We publish a quarterly-ish newsletter with updates on our work, our forays into parenting, and special events.

Design Kompany on Twitter Follow DK on Twitter

Design Kompany is on Facebook Connect on Facebook



 

Categories

CONTACT DK

Design Kompany is in Durham, NC.

Mailing address:
PO Box 1512
Durham, NC 27702
@designkompany
c. 206.778.5136 My status | email