Hymn expresses the natural, circular passage of time in their identity for Spring Equity Partners

Spring Equity Partners, a private investment office founded by experienced private bankers Etienne d’Arenberg, John de Salis, and Christian Schmitz, sought to establish an authentic brand image that would convey their unique, bespoke approach to managing large family estates. They turned to Hymn to develop an identity that could effectively communicate their values of collectivity, scalability, high performance, and exclusivity, while also seamlessly embodying a family-first approach.

When crafting the identity for both physical and digital formats, Hymn faced the challenge of reconciling seemingly conflicting elements and values – Spring needed to be ‘bold yet reassuring, simple yet intimate.’ Furthermore, the branding had to express confidentiality while leaving a lasting impression. To string all of these disparate ideas together, Hymn drew inspiration from the natural world, creating a visual language conceptually centred around the ebb and flow of time.

“As a family office,” explains Hymn Founder & Creative Director Alexandre Henriques, “Spring Equity Partners must on the one hand be anchored in tradition and at the same time look towards tomorrow.” This is precisely why Hymn selected Riviera as the brand’s primary typeface. The reimagined humanist sans serif had been designed by three renowned typographers at Swiss Typefaces, who gave a ‘Swiss-touch’ refresh to the 100-year-old British font. “Many of the typeface’s key characteristics have been preserved,” adds Henriques, “such as its vertically cut lines and pointed peaks, but the essence of the font has also been infused with a style that is distinctly Romand-Swiss, striking the perfect balance between classicism and modernity.”

The wordmark is supported by a symbol of three rings, which represent the ‘three partners, their personalities, similarities and differences,’ and also allude to the idea of the past, present and future. When set in motion, the rings come together to form a flower, tying into the idea of nature. The overarching theme is felt through the visual universe, brought to life through a series of pointillism-inspired bouquets, effectively bridging the worlds of classical painting and generative art (echoing the juxtaposed ideas of the traditional and the contemporary). The digital half-tone dots generate a variety of floral animations that adapt to the client’s preferences, allowing for a dynamic and ever-evolving visual experience. Serving as a complement to the brand’s typography and logo, it brings a fresh and unexpected aesthetic to the world of finance, while conveying the concept of natural and perpetual movement of time across years and generations – the dots, symbolising flowers, change colours and shape, reminding one of the passing of seasons. “We chose to work with natural compositions,” notes Henriques, referring to the flowers, “and treat them in a contemporary way using a generative design interpretation.”

Hymn

Spring Equity Partners