The State Theatre Company of South Australia is one of the nation’s premier theatre companies. With an annual season of classic and contemporary Australian and international theatre works, it's a major community and cultural resource for all South Australians.

To coincide with the arrival of new Artistic Director, Mitchell Butel, we were briefed to develop a new brand identity and integrated launch campaign ahead of Season 2020.

In its previous branding system, individual shows held the focus, with the State Theatre Company's own identity playing a supporting role. We developed a brand system that pushes the State Theatre Company to centre stage, and provides a brand platform for consistently promoting individual shows, each of which incorporate their own photography and brand assets.

This brand's icon, in the shape of an arch, represents the stage as viewed by the audience and is used to provide a window into each performance. In solid red, the arch suggests a curtain and the pre-show anticipation. When lifted, it reveals an upcoming or current show.

State Theatre Company was keen to attract a new, younger audience, and the design style applied to the brand system is intentionally bold, modern and approachable, not stuffy or elitist as is sometimes the perception of the organisation.

In time, the arch will become a symbol of trust in the quality of the State Theatre Company's productions. If a patron attends and enjoys one show, they're more likely to book the next if it’s advertised clearly under the same brand system.

We applied the State Theatre Company's brand to its website, which profiles its Season 2020 shows and is a major contributor of ticket and subscription sales.

We also provided a broad range of digital marketing ads and assets, each carrying the same boldness as the brand's physical implementations.