Naghalbashi

Podcasts are one of the most relevant forms of digital media in today’s world, entertaining and educating audiences with highly curated content. Although an audio-based medium, the visual identity of a podcast can go a long way in helping it gain more visibility and resonate with the right audience. 

Born out of a passion for history and storytelling, Naghalbashi is a podcast focusing on historical, and political topics. Before its launch, it approached Roo Studio with a need for a visual identity that would embody its essence while forming a distinct image that could help build its recognition amongst potential audiences.

Naghalibashi means the storyteller or narrator in Farsi. Naghali was an ancient performance art form, in which a storyteller would perform and narrate a story in front of the public using facial gestures, tone of voice, prose, and poetry. The stories mostly bore historical, political, or social significance. This is precisely what Naghalbashi as a podcast achieves using modern tools.  It was therefore our task to embody the essence of this practice in our branding while visually resonating with a modern audience.

At Roo Studio, we care deeply about Iranian cultural heritage, and that of other countries as well. Therefore we need a solid reason to delve into these aspects to draw inspiration for any branding or business related purposes. However, Naghalbashi takes an academic approach to political and historical issues that are very much embedded in cultural matters. It does not engage in modern analysis of historical matters, instead, it evokes sensations through its content that is very much related to the past. It was therefore not only justifiable but also the only strategically plausible approach for us to delve into history and Iran’s rich cultural heritage to draw inspiration for our branding.

Naghali was popular during a historical era in which the Thuluth script was used for writing. When analyzing the senses of the brand, we concluded that this highly pictorial calligraphy-style script was the right fit for our logotype and branding. We first wrote the name Naghalbashi using the Thuluth script and then designed and modified it to create a powerful logotype resembling a calligraphy painting.

As also reflected in our logotype, the letter “n” in Farsi is written with a dot. We appropriated this dot, further modified and emphasized it to create the logo for Naghalbashi. We added curves and edges to the dot itself to further resemble the Thuluth script, which together with a simple circle formed our final logo.

Carefully analyzing Naghalbashi’s needs as a podcast, we designed a layout for its episode covers that could easily be modified for each episode by the client without the help of Roo. We also created a guideline for the brand detailing visual guidelines for each additional image that would be posted on the podcast’s social media channels. As a result, using a few strategically thought-out elements, we finalized a branding package that visually evokes the same sensations as the content of the podcast, while completely fulfilling its needs.      

The visual identity of the podcast has received favorable reviews by the audience, according to whom, it is distinct and of a higher quality and aesthetic appeal than its counterparts.