Droga5 London creates new visual identity for Cupra that 'challenges the conventions' of design for cars

The identity is part of the new Cupra brand platform dubbed 'another way', and according to Droga5, the system "challenges the conventions of design in the car category."

The Barcelona-based Cupra brand of cars is described as "an unconventional challenger brand" based on "stimulating style and contemporary performance". In 2021, Cupra will launch a new plug-in hybrid version of its Formentor car and its first 100% electric model, the Cupra el-Born.

The visual brand elements are formed from a "modular" design vernacular, using various elements that portray both the car itself and its drivers from a wholly new, unexpected perspective. The approach was a deliberate move away from the usual, expected conventions of brand work for cars, "which tend to focus on the same angles, generic empty road locations and rarely feature drivers," says Droga5.

The agency's work breaks from these norms using boxed-out module shapes as graphic holding devices for people and places. This means that images showing car users are given the same prominence in terms of the visual hierarchy as the cars themselves. As such, despite the slick, futuristic aesthetic; the cars are still shown in a more true-to-life context than in design work for similar brands.

"'Another Way' looks at the car from an unexpected perspective—one that provides a flexible visual language that elevates the context of the driver to the same level as the car itself," says Chris Chapman, head of design at Droga5 London.

Instead, it shows people and places in bespoke boxed-out modules and gives them the same prominence as the car itself - putting the car into a real-world context. Droga5’s work will feature all touchpoints for the Cupra brand, including digital communications, out-of-home advertising, digital display, social media, and print throughout Europe and Latin America.

Droga5 London, which has completed projects for clients including Amazon, Barclaycard, Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark and Rustlers, worked with CG Agency Wellcom and photographer Piczo to create the suite of imagery.