Orange County Web + Brand Design

Web Design + Brand Identity

for Orange County Musician

A silhouette of a person climbing a steep mountain at night, holding a flashlight in one hand, with a dark and cloudy sky in the background.

01. Behind the Brand

Balænce is the sonic vessel of Southern California musician Scott Cunningham, who writes and records songs that drift between ruin and beauty, light and shadow. Each composition feels less like performance and more like invocation; an attempt to capture the ache of memory, the hunger of desire, and the fragile weight of time.

Performing in intimate venues across Orange County, Balænce blurs the lines between gothic atmosphere and emotional honesty, weaving elements of folk, electronic, and industrial sound into haunting, cinematic experiences.

Balænce is not a mask but a mirror, reflecting what’s been lost, and what still longs to be found.

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A dark colored vinyl record partially placed in front of a black box with red and white text, resting on a rough, black rock, against a gray background.

02. Behind the Design

  • Before AFOTIK’s redesign, Balænce lacked a cohesive digital identity. The existing visuals and web presence didn’t reflect the band’s cinematic sound or conceptual depth. There was no consistent brand system to carry across streaming platforms, videos, and social channels, and no true home for fans to explore beyond Spotify or YouTube.

  • I began by crafting a complete brand identity system [logo, typography, and color palette] designed to translate emotion into form. The site was developed on Squarespace for its flexibility and fluid motion options, integrating Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube so listeners could move seamlessly between visual storytelling and sound.

    The design approach balanced stark black-and-white photography with rich atmospheric tones, custom textures, and organic typography. Each page was treated as a chapter [part ritual, part narrative], inviting the audience into the world of Balænce rather than simply presenting information.

  • Visually, the project drew from early 20th-century photography, occult symbolism, and the haunting simplicity of analog design. The site’s rhythm mirrors a song’s arc, building tension, offering release, and leaving space for resonance.

    • Brand Identity System (logo suite, palette, typography)

    • Squarespace Website Design & Development

    • Copywriting & Story Development

    • Visual Direction for Photography & Video

    • Spotify + Apple Music Integration

    • Custom Motion & Interaction Design

03. the Color Palette

04. the Logos

Balence logo with planetary and geometrical design, tagline 'Every song is a ritual' on a black background.
Abstract geometric design with black, red, and white circles and lines on a black background
Geometric diagram with overlapping circles, lines, and points on a black background, with some elements highlighted in red and white.
A black background with a geometric illustration of circles and lines in white and red. The word 'BALANCE' is written in large, thin, stylized white letters with red dots over the 'A' and 'C'. Below, in smaller red text, it says 'EVERY SONG IS A RITUAL'.

05. the Typography

Image displaying different font styles and characters for Major Mono Display font, including uppercase alphabet, numbers, and stylized characters in black, gray, and red backgrounds with labels for font features.
An infographic displaying different fonts. It shows a section titled 'Secondary Font' with the alphabet in lowercase red letters on a black background, the same alphabet in black font on a light grey background, and a color-coded vertical list of numbers from 01 to 89 in red background.

06. the Website

A dark webpage for Balance, showcasing a minimalistic design with celestial and abstract symbols. Contains text about music, reflections, and ghosts, with images of silhouetted figures and atmospheric scenes.
A dark website homepage with black background and red and white text, featuring sections titled "The Stills," "Rapure," "Losing," and "Descent," with images of a foggy alley, a face, and abstract shapes.
A website homepage for 'Balance' featuring a dark background, a photo of a man sitting on a chair, and text describing the concept of balance in music and rituals, with buttons for navigating and social media icons.
Dark-themed website homepage with a form titled 'Balance' for submitting intentions, featuring navigation links for 'Rituals,' 'Testament,' and 'Summoning,' and social media icons for Instagram and YouTube.
A person standing against a dark background, wearing a loose black sweatshirt, black pants with a white drawstring, and black combat boots with thick soles.
A person wearing a dark grey coat and a black hood, holding a black tote bag with a geometric red and white design, standing against a dark background.
Person wearing a black cap with geometrical and astronomical designs, a black face covering and a black leather jacket, set against a dark background.
Back of a person wearing a black hoodie with a geometric design and the word 'BALANCE' printed on it, standing against a dark background.

STAY a WHILE.

…or START something NEW.

You can dive into the work we might create together, or wander through the words and ideas that shape it.

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Let's work together
Black and white photo of a coffee mug, eyeglasses, and a laptop on a kitchen table with sunlight casting shadows through a window.