Identity Design:
Small Stage
Small Stage is a non-profit contemporary dance company based in Vancouver, BC and I set out to do their rebrand. The companies original logo was created almost 20 years ago and was in need of an upgrade. My goal was to re-imagine the outdated logo by aligning the companies physical vision with its current values.
The logo was inspired by the 12 x 12 stage the company travels with and the stage steps at the end of each word onto the ‘stage’ of the logo. Along with the logo I offered colored options as well as a secondary logo in the identity system to be used at the companies leisure. The new logo was made to elevate the company from a community company and share its more professional presence in the Vancouver dance scene.
The Identity User Guide explores the companies colors, logo space, logo misuses, typefaces and mood board. The colors were inspired by the mood board offered, made by a collection of photos sharing the companies passion for performances outside. It was important for me to share that this is a big part of why Small Stage is different from the rest.
When given the task to create a stationary system with the companies new logo, colors and typefaces, I thought to myself, how can I make this unique? So I turned the business cards square to match the shape of the stage and new logo. I turned their envelopes one color, adding their new tag line, “Experience The Freedom.”, to offer the customer a new head space before opening the content of a letter from the company. Lastly, a favicon was created that has the company logo before the company information, to give the reader of any email a visual break before more written information.
The companies new digital design is composed of desktop, iPad and phone versions. I was looking for a design user friendly, as well as something that would keep the user on the site for hours diving into Small Stage shows over the past 20 years. I achieved this by keeping the hamburger bar with only three options, all shows scrollable and images of the shows clickable, allowing the user to dive deeper with every click.
Small Stage is a company that creates art shows for every season. I created the companies new identity system right before Christmas and thought it would be perfect timing to do an ad campaign for the upcoming Valentine’s Day show. The new slogan I created for the company has now turned into something that can be worked with for every season, which is where ‘Experience the Love” was born. Small Stage is about experiencing something and we can experience everything with Small Stage.