Harry Hook is Real
Identity design, visual assets and merchandise

Harry is an Aria nominated musician. His surname was Hookey, but recently he married Mim, whose surname was Cook. So they both changed their names to Hook, which is a solid solution to the dilemma about choosing surnames for those who get married these days. It does, however, make it tricky if you are a musician who has made a bit of a name for yourself. His decision to add is Real at the end of his stage name is another clever solution.

After playing around with more enigmatic symbols, I came to the conclusion that the name should be the sole focus of the logo. Harry Hook is Real is like a mini poem. It reads like a newspaper headline, straightforward affirmation or twists into a paranoid conspiracy theory. It also reminded me of Coca-Cola’s The Real Thing, so I leant into associations with older advertising styles as an influence when choosing the type.

When laid out like a pattern the sentence reads both horizontally and vertically, repeating like a mantra in all directions. My favourite part about this project is the strange impact that the word Real has on an image when placed over the top of it. I played around with this phenomenon as a way of testing the logo in different situations but also, just to enjoy the twists and turns in meaning that it produced.

Harry’s single, (Promise Me) You’ll Keep on Dancing, is an uplifting love song about persevering. Using an archival photo of Morwell Citizens Band as a visual for the track, the sentiment of the song extends to place and community. A love song to the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland amidst the shifting economic fortunes of the region.