Hudson Valley Shakespeare
One of the region’s premiere professional non-profit theater companies prepares to welcome audiences to their new permanent home featuring a stunning view of the Hudson River, and with it, unveils a new name and visual identity.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, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival had the opportunity to establish a permanent, year-round home — the Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center, the first public purpose-built LEED Platinum theater in the US which is being designed by architecture and urban design practice Studio Gang, and it was time to reimagine the brand for the future.
Our work included stakeholder interviews, evaluating the organization’s name and tagline, creation of a brand platform to inform brand choices, and the design of the new logo and branding system.
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.
SERVICES
- Brand identity system and guidelines
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HVSHAKESPEARE.ORGSERVICES
- Brand identity system and guidelines
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.
- We conducted a broad exploration of logos informed by HVS’s core values and vision. Ultimately, we arrived at a design that uses forms from the architecture of their new permanent home and the surrounding landscape.
- We developed a full branding system to accompany it, including a color palette and pattern system drawn from the natural landscape at HVS.
Research, in the process leading up to the renaming & visual identity design, all things HVSF 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/their communications, feelings related to HVSF’s name, and what challenges existed in the renaming/rebranding process.
- To understand HVSF’s opportunities for differentiation and growth, we researched the competitor landscape, including other open-air theaters, local outdoor attractions, and Shakespeare festivals across the USA and internationally.
- From our discussions, the word “Festival” emerged as no longer descriptive of the organization’s future as a permanent presence in the community.
- With the acquisition of the new home, HVSF would also be responsible for businesses on site beyond the theater. We conducted a thorough exploration of the naming structure of the organization, and how it can communicate those relationships.
- We distilled the brand’s values into a Brand Platform chart to arrive at the brand essence and the tagline: “Nature at Play”
