How Studio Gonzalo Hergueta rebranded the Grammy award-winning production company Little Spain

Their name may sound small, but Little Spain knows how to deliver a big impact. As Grammy award-winners, the production studio and its culturally-driven projects are experiencing continuous commercial success; from directing commercials and music videos to organising and producing concerts, shows and events. With the future in sight, Little Spain invited New York-based creative office Studio Gonzalo Hergueta to come up with a new visual identity to reflect their vibrant work while solidifying the company as ‘one to watch.’

As part of the brand refresh, the team not only cleaned up the original logo, but in doing so, they built a whole new typeface. “This was a joint decision between us and Alvaro Santos, Little Spain’s ECD & Founder,” Studio Gonzalo Hergueta’s Jack Redpath explains. “As a big fan of graphic design, Santos always dreamt of having his own typeface. As soon as I saw a way to fit a custom typeface within the rebranding project I threw it in, and he gladly accepted. A couple of years ago I watched a conference by David Rudnick, where he mentions (if I remember rightly) that he always tries to create his own typefaces to differentiate the work from other designers. Since tools have been completely democratised, having your own letterforms brings an additional spice to the work, giving it personality and differentiating it from others.” 

As a result, Little Spain can communicate with its audience in a bespoke tone of voice, one that fits well with its nostalgia-inspired aesthetic. “It also allows Little Spain to create sub-brands and products,” Redpath adds, “without having to rely on external services for branding.”

To create this typeface, they began by examining the lettering from the studio’s original logo, which itself was based on a poster. “When creating our custom font,” Redpath tells us, “I used as a skeleton one of my previous custom fonts, which I designed for issue nine of the Barcelona Zine, contrafotografía.”

From there, he continues, he aimed to strike a balance between the blockiness of the vintage poster, while adding expressive curves and gestures that would provide dynamism and rhythm. “The whole typeface comes down to having the ‘right amount of wrong,’” he says, “so it can be read seamlessly but can also catch your eye with some unexpected moves, like the ‘N,’ ‘V’ or ‘X.’”

With a name like Little Spain, it would have been easy for Studio Gonzalo Hergueta to opt for a traditional palette of red and yellow. Whilst their colour choices take inspiration from the Spanish flag, they decided to move away from the “extremely recognisable” hues of La Rojigualda. “In our brand, we wanted to do a reinterpretation,” Redpath recalls, “keeping the red, which for us feels very emotional and nostalgic, but replacing the yellow with neon green. I think it keeps enough of the original spirit, while bringing an instant buzz of electricity to the brand, that makes it feel very loud, noisy and exciting when seen come to life in the digital platforms.”

Studio Gonzalo Hergueta

Little Spain