Founded in Southern California in 1962, Ernie Ball is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric, acoustic, and bass guitar strings featuring an incredible roster that includes names like Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Slash, Keith Richards, Angus Young, Metallica, and more.

We were asked to update and unify the Music Man and Ernie Ball brands with a cohesive design language, reflecting the new technology in strings and accessories while still paying homage to Southern California rock culture. Our system needed to be scalable and globally-focused, to be shared with distributors worldwide. We created a visual style guide that included modern typography, photo styles and treatments, plus a color palette based on the Day-Glo colors initially used back in the 60s. We showcased the artists up-front, reinforcing the musicians’ connection with their heroes, and invested heavily in product photography and 3D renders. We created key-art ads to support product launches published in the major music magazines and executed across different media, from video to social and digital advertisements. The campaigns we developed culminated in the NAMM Show 2016, the world’s largest trade-only event for the pro audio industry, solidifying Ernie Ball’s position as the industry leader with products in more than 5,500 music shops in the US and an international presence in more than 75 countries.