Branding and communication concept for SAFE Collective

The electronic music subculture in Düsseldorf is in crisis: good clubs to dance in are lacking or closing, the scene is stagnating and talented artists are not getting the attention they deserve. Now there is a project set to change that: SAFE, a new collective, wants to make a difference for the scene.

"Our agency regularly supports a wide variety of cultural projects. And this project is particularly important to me. I have known the scene from my own experience for over 25 years and have therefore been in touch with many of its players for a long time. 25 years ago I started DJing myself, playing in various clubs and at parties in the Rhineland and the Ruhr area. As early as 2020, I had the idea of building a community and streaming platform for electronic music in Düsseldorf," Benjamin Arndt, Managing Partner, Arndtteunissen.

At the beginning of 2023, this idea became reality: the SAFE collective was founded.

SAFE consists of an interdisciplinary team of DJs, event technicians and media experts who share a passion for electronic music. Its own studio is located in the abandoned vault of an old bank at a secret location in NRW.

Richard Wibbels, co-founder of the collective, explains: "We want to give talented DJs a digital stage and share the love of electronic music. We want to become the central point of contact for the electronic music scene in the region, and in future we will make many DJ sets available online as streams."

"We, too, want to support the scene. Because creativity, our superpower, is fed by different sources of inspiration – architecture, art, design and, of course, music. And electronic music has always been, and still is, an important part of the art and culture scene," says Benjamin Arndt. 

For the newly founded SAFE collective, we have developed a versatile branding concept. The distinctive logo lettering is sturdy and loud at the same time, with the slightly modified counter in the "A" acting as a keyhole and symbolically representing access to the subculture and the region's electronic music scene. At the same time, the keyhole points to the place where it all happens: the safe. The reduced black-and-white look symbolises an open embrace for all forms of electronic music and recalls the early days of the nineties, of photocopied flyers and low-budget printed party posters.

SAFE wants to support talented up-and-coming DJs in Düsseldorf, the region and all of NRW. Since the first streams on YouTube in mid-2023, the fan community has been growing, and so the safe will establish itself as a secure home for the electronic music scene.

As an agency, we will continue to accompany the project and wish the whole team every success on their mission.