The Penumbra
THE ART OF CONTRASTS
Rebrand: This was a rebranding exercise I chose to do for the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. Designed to add personality, make an impact and appeal to a diverse audience. The project involved renaming and branding, with a focus on social media and digital roll out.
The theatre strives to be inclusive, believes theatre is for everyone, and showcases a variety of genres and styles that will appeal to all sorts of people. That meant the target audience is anyone and everyone, there are no preconceptions about who will attend, so the challenge became designing something that has personality and makes an impact, yet appeals to a diverse audience without alienating anyone.
The theatre is full of interesting contrasts. There’s the classic comedy versus tragedy of theatre. It shows a wide variety of contrasting genres: drama, comedy, opera, music, kids’ stuff. The theatre’s been around for 140 years and has a rich legacy and long-standing reputation but it’s also producing innovative new theatre. It hosts classic performances as well as modern adaptations. The building has a Victorian facade contrasting with a modern glass entranceway.
These contrasts summed up are: Comedy vs Tragedy, Legacy vs Future, Classic vs Modern, Tradition vs Innovation, Light vs Dark.
The concept for the design was the art of contrasts and the new brand is The Penumbra, which means where light meets dark.
This concept guided all design choices including colour, fonts, photo treatment, and graphic elements.
