Hudson Valley Shakespeare
It’s a new era for one of the region’s premiere professional non-profit theater companies. HVS recently unveiled a new name and visual identity in advance of the summer 2026 opening of their new permanent home featuring a stunning view of the Hudson River, the Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center.Visit website
HVSHAKESPEARE.ORGHudson Valley Shakespeare Festival has been a seasonal presence in the Garrison, NY area since 1987, distinguished by their repertory performances, open-air tent, and view of the beautiful Hudson River. With the gift of 98 acres of land, HVSF had the opportunity to establish a permanent, year-round home, and it was time to reimagine the brand for the future.
In anticipation of their new home designed by architecture and urban design practice Studio Gang, the Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center, which is targeting LEED v4 Platinum — the first such certification for a purpose-built US theater — HVSF approached us in 2025 to help them rethink their name and to redesign their brand.
As the vision for the Theater came into clearer view, Flyleaf Creative was brought in to adapt learnings from our brand identity work and components of the work itself into a full environmental signage program for the site. Our work connects the brand people see when looking at marketing materials or visiting the website to what they experience when they are on the grounds. Our branding and signage work amplifies the organization’s values, which include accessibility to arts, sustainability, and preservation of the land they now inhabit, and offers a seamless experience and cohesive storytelling authentic to who they are and where they now call home.
The main components of our work have been to:
- Create a new logo and branding system that tells the story of HVS’s present and future.
- Research, in the process leading up to the renaming & visual identity design, all things HVSF in order to make well-informed, personalized recommendations.
- Design a signage system for the outdoor campus and open air theater, that is deeply connected to the landscape and upholds the site’s sustainable values.
SERVICES
- Brand identity system and guidelines
- Environmental signage program including signature sign, campus-wide vehicular & pedestrian wayfinding, donor signage, back-of-house, and code-required signage
PROJECT CASE STUDIES
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HVSHAKESPEARE.ORGSERVICES
- Brand identity system and guidelines
- Environmental signage program including signature sign, campus-wide vehicular & pedestrian wayfinding, donor signage, back-of-house, and code-required signage
PROJECT CASE STUDIES
Create a new logo and branding system that tells the story of HVS’s present and future.
- After exploring many options, the shortened name “Hudson Valley Shakespeare” was chosen to best represent the future of the organization.
- For the logo, we arrived at a design that uses forms from the architecture of their new permanent home and the surrounding landscape.
- The color palette and pattern system we developed draws from the natural landscape at HVS.
Research all things HVSF, in the process leading up to the renaming & visual identity design, in order to make well-informed, personalized recommendations.
- We conducted research and collected data through questionnaires and stakeholder interviews to understand perceptions of the organization, challenges, etc.
- We researched the competitor landscape to understand HVSF’s opportunities for differentiation and growth.
- We distilled the brand’s values into a Brand Platform chart to arrive at the brand essence: “Nature at Play.”
Design a signage system for the outdoor campus and open air theater, that is deeply connected to the landscape and upholds the site’s sustainable values.
- We explored the use of sustainable materials inspired by the architecture and landscape, selecting durable materials to withstand exposure to the elements.
- Our designs met Dark Sky lighting regulations while ensuring key wayfinding is visible after dark.
- Our systems provide clear wayfinding for drivers and pedestrians, including introducing new traffic pathways.
- We were able to design a Signature Sign, using a boulder located on-site to act as an inspired photo opportunity for visitors.
- Donor signage including dimensional letters and a donor wall are prominently located to greet visitors on arrival at the Theater building. The donor wall features the natural beauty of wood.
