Step 1
At the beginning of 2021, I was contacted by BTicino to work on the rebranding of the ringtones for their new models of video intercoms. Up until then, the video intercoms were equipped with a set of 'historic' ringtones consisting of monophonic melodies generated with basic waveforms (sine wave, square waves, etc.). With a revolutionary new model of video intercom in development (the first one with integrated VDE Alexa), the company decided to modernize the ringtone selection to make the device more comfortable, user-friendly, non-intrusive, and harmonious with the surrounding environment.
The ringtones were also intended to reflect the key values of BTicino's brand identity: Technology, style, and emotion.

Step 2
The first step in tackling the rebranding process was to analyze the 'historic' melodies and polyphonically elaborate them by incorporating a micro development of harmonic tension/relaxation. From a timbral perspective, I thought of associating a different timbre with each characteristic of the brand identity. In the playlist alongside, you can listen to the initial ringtone proposals, both in their complete version and divided into the three individual 'textures' that make up each sound.

Step 3
The next phase involved working with the design team to narrow down the choices and concretize and synthesize the perfect mix of sounds and melodies. However, a simplification was necessary due to constraints of the device itself: unfortunately, the speaker and audio converters of the video intercom cannot accurately represent frequencies below 500 Hz and above 2500/3000 Hz, with a growing harmonic distortion exponentially below 400 Hz and above 3 kHz. Another interesting aspect: the video intercom is constructed in a way that if it plays ringtones, it cannot simultaneously reproduce video and audio from the other device (due to power supply constraints). Therefore, the duration of the ringtone could not exceed 6 seconds. Hence, the idea of repeating the sound twice within the six seconds. This aspect allows for emphasizing the sonic identity of the device and being more impactful in its signaling function.
La mistura di suono finale prevede: un suono puro derivato da un sintetizzatore simile a un suono sinusoidale con inviluppo impulsivo, vicino alla resa di un metallofono con lo scopo di comunicare “purezza”, un suono stile campanella nell’ottava superiore, qui il richiamo alla funzione storica del citofono e una sensazione di “stile\eleganza”. Il terzo suono è un’eco che si aggiunge come una sorta di alone di boliviane sonore: questo effetto ha un richiamo alla componente tecnologia e comunica anche l’idea di connettività\velocità.

The finished product, BTicino Classe 300 EOS, was awarded the “If design Award 2021”