Art By San B
Giving a Swarovski artist a brand as considered as his pieces.
- Project
- Brand and proposition, Campaigns and multimedia
- Company type
- Swarovski artist, private company
- Went live
- Q4 2024
artbysanb.com on six phones, the card tag, the Marshmello piece going up in the library, and the desk the crystals go down from.
Build the brand that reflects luxury and legacy, then film the work that earns it.
The Nas film at the top was shot with Nas and San B in the room with the finished piece, and in the studio as the crystals went down. Everything after it is what the brand, the site and the content had to live up to.
They challenged me, and they were aligned on my vision.
“I take my craft seriously, and so did the guys at WAO.”San B, Artist
An official Swarovski partner since 2017, with pieces on the walls of champions and titans of industry, he had a following and no brand to match it. We wrote the proposition, drew the emblem, built the site and filmed the work.
The brand
One emblem, one line and one pattern, carried from a business card to a shop window.
The proposition rests on four words, craftsmanship, distinctive, symbolic and innovative. Each piece is a tribute to a significant figure, made to dominate the space it hangs in, and a symbol of the collector who owns it. The strategy is niche and differentiation, a piece priced for its artistic value and the prestige of owning one, not for the materials in it.
Beyond Art. Crafting Legacy.
A diamond, doubled into infinity, doubled again into the emblem.
One infinity symbol is the legacy of the artist, the other the legacy of the subject. The S and the B sit inside it, where only the artist knows to look. The pattern is the emblem broken into its facets and repeated.
The pattern as it is printed on the cards, the bag, the swing tag and the glass.
The identity was drawn to be held, sealed, worn and walked past.
What I did not bargain for was the critical and strategic thinking.
The web experience
A site that hangs the pieces the way a gallery does: one at a time, with the story beside each.
artbysanb.com carries the collection with its year and type filters, a page for every piece and the artist in his own words, on the brand’s black. It is recorded live below, at a desk, and then page by page.
The home and the collection as they run at a desk.
The home, the artist in his own words, the way to reach him, and a page for every piece.
The content
Every piece is photographed, filmed and told as its own story.
The subjects are historic figures, celebrities, influencers, sport, music and politics, the people a collector already admires. The shoot follows the crystals from the box to the wall, and the pieces into the rooms they hang in.
Showcasing the process of the craft, and how we turn it into story.
The subject is drawn first. The crystals are sorted by colour and cut, then picked up one at a time with tweezers and set into the board by hand. The depth of a face comes from the placement, the light from the stone.
Sharpening the proposition and the words I use helped me close more clients. It totally helped my business development process.
- Value proposition and positioning
- Brand identity, emblem and pattern
- Print, packaging and merchandise
- Website design and build
- The Nas film and the shoot
One note when there is something worth saying. Never on a schedule.
You have seen what it took here. Tell us what you are trying to win.
- A scoped plan
- A budget range
- A reply within one working day
- The right people in the room