A Shared Wavelength

In a world overrun by TikTok trends, ‘personalised’ playlists and soulless algorithms, our goal was to refresh a brand with genuine resonance for a community of music lovers in Flanders.

Studio Brussel stands out in the VRT ecosystem for its progressive music and youth-oriented content. Since 1983, they’ve set the trend in Belgian music culture, showcasing emerging artists, celebrating diversity, and fostering community.

Three decades in, Studio Brussel was facing unprecedented challenges. Their 2019 rebrand left audiences feeling disconnected and market share in free fall, while commercial competitors and streaming services were gaining ground. 

Our task was to redefine the tone of the brand so it aligned with the new world of VRT we recently helped define. This included reclaiming its full Studio Brussel name, recapturing the listening experience that had once made it a hit, and helping its core belief, ‘Life is Music’, sing once more.

Our approach was to better understand music’s power to unite us. A great song doesn’t just play, it takes us on a journey—sound waves win us over, vibrations set the tone, frequencies bring us together. Music helps us connect with others who share a way of seeing (and hearing) the world. 

The result was ‘Shared Wavelengths’: a brand idea connected to VRT’s overarching brand promise to be ‘Forever Current’. The idea serves as a creative platform and gives Studio Brussel’s story an engaging, human touch.

The new design system centres on a simple yet powerful symbol—the mic. It’s the heartbeat of the Studio Brussel brand, transcending genres, trends and subcultures, just like their diverse audience and the music they love.

The graphic and motion mechanics around the mic capture the potential of our ‘shared wavelengths’ and speak to the power of music—the ripple effect it has in bringing people together.

We worked in close collaboration with Studio Brussel content and programming teams to strike the perfect note for the repositioned brand. At its heart is the intention to bring warmth and vibrancy through form, colour and motion—a subtle nod to the brand’s rich heritage as a music radio brand, while also boldly contemporary in its energy.

The brand system is crafted to come to life wherever music lives, from digital platforms and social networks to gigs and festival stages. Studio Brussel’s presence is redefined to resonate deeply with the music-loving community in Flanders.

As an extension of the design toolkit we built for VRT, the Studio Brussel brand system introduces a range of versatile treatments and behaviours, brought to life across a spectrum of colours. This visual diversity captures Studio Brussel’s eclectic offer across their family of shows, streams, podcasts, and events. The new system is designed to be flexible enough to handle everything from techno to folk, hard rock to ambient, while still maintaining the Studio Brussel and VRT identity.

A key element of the refresh is the brand’s integration into VRT’s digital streaming platform, VRT MAX. The Studio Brussel brand is optimised for digital platforms and prioritises being easy to use for internal teams, helping designers’ work shine consistently across any touchpoint.

Studio Brussel went full volume with the launch of the new brand, hosting an exclusive broadcast from Antwerp featuring rock royalty Queens of the Stone Age—a fitting celebration for a brand that is once again making waves.

After launching the brand refresh, Studio Brussel saw significant improvement across key performance indicators, with sustained growth in market share month-over-month. The combination of a refined brand position, new content strategy, and fresh visual identity has led to the brand’s continued success, reaffirming Studio Brussel’s role as a leader in VRT’s radio portfolio.