Entec began 2022 with both new branding and image – including only its third logo change in 50 years – having used the lockdown period and the absence of live event work to redefine its infrastructure. Under its new Entec Live banner, Chairman Nick Pendleton is joined by new Head of Sound Dan Scantlebury
Given the opportunity ‘to pause, reflect and decide’, Pendleton explains, ‘After celebrating our golden anniversary in 2018 and buying our warehouse, we started to formulate a bold plan to make the next 50 years even better. Part of that was refreshing our look and feel. We felt that we now offered far more than just sound and light, which seemed too restricting, and we wanted to get recognised for the full production and streaming we now offer. While we are proud of our heritage we have clear vision of the future.’
The installation of Scantlebury as Head of Sound placed the company on a different trajectory, opening new avenues to explore once the Covid-19 restrictions began to lift. At the same time, the Entec rental inventory was upgraded, with specifiable, lighting products from Ayrton and Elation added.
Key to the company’s future in a post-Covid world is its venture into UVC technology, leading to the Entec UVC Safe Clean sub brand. Of this, Pendleton says, ‘We are excited to be able to apply our long history of innovation in how to operate safely, and having found a solution for environmental germicidal disinfection in our industry through UVC, we were eager to create a sub brand and apply the look and feel of the new logo.’
However, it was the core ‘Entec’ brand that occupied most thought – deciding to retire a logo that had stood the company in good stead for 30 years required a replacement that would define‘the look and feel of an identity that would carry us through the next 50 years’.
In designing this identity, Entec worked with Amanda Rhodes, Senior Designer at Chameleon, to blend the current logo with a more contemporary typeface and visual language. ‘It was important to reflect the growing importance of video, streaming and the real value of knowledgeable advice and support,’ notes Pendleton. ‘Chameleon did a great job and were very much working with us to get to the right outcomes.’
The former logo’s light and sound projection shape has been retained. ‘It would have been a mistake to lose that,’ Pendleton says. ‘I always remember some engineers telling me that when they went to gigs as punters they gave out a huge sigh of relief when they saw the Entec triangle of light and sound on any equipment, as they knew they would enjoy the show. We couldn’t throw that recognition away.’
The new logo ticks all the boxes, he says, as it enables Entec to celebrate its past while pointing to a dynamic future. ‘And this is what we are all about.’
More: www.enteclive.com
