Sylvan Hillebrand captures genre-blending motion in his Tones work

Three decades is a long time to carry a name. Bassline, born in Amsterdam’s Roxy back in the 90s, became the Netherlands’ longest-running hip-hop night, building a loyal following and a storied reputation. But by 2024, the party had wound down, leaving the name to live on at Paradiso as a sub-brand for hip-hop, R&B and Afro shows. The problem? Confusion. Older fans thought of the iconic night; younger crowds saw a label for smaller, recent events. The solution required more than a facelift – it demanded a complete rethink of what the platform could represent. Amsterdam-based graphic designer Sylvan Hillebrand was brought in late 2024 to tackle this evolution, launching the new identity in April 2025. “The rebrand to Tones was introduced to carry that legacy into a wider, multi-genre platform, literally ‘tones’ across afro, reggae, R&B, (neo)soul,” Hillebrand explains. The name itself signals ambition beyond straight hip-hop, opening up to Latin, reggae and more, whilst pushing to grow a community with merch, a festival and social meet-ups. The identity centres on a logo that captures transformation in motion. After drafting over 30 iterations across two rounds, Hillebrand landed on a design that feels like a morph caught mid-rotation. “I wanted to create something that felt like it was literally in a rotating motion that could stand for how Tones blends genres,” he notes. The solution arrived through experimentation rather than strict conceptual construction. “Funny enough this was created with a tool in Illustrator similar to the Swirl tool. Instead of constructing something that was conceptually determined, sometimes the best ideas reveal itself through the sense of play.”