The practical side of my project physically embodies the breadth of knowledge I learnt through researching and writing my essay, applying my findings and expressing them visually in the design of a new visual identity for Holbeck Underground Ballroom – the HUB. As the HUB had virtually no visual identity to begin with it gave me the perfect opportunity to start on a clean slate, giving me complete freedom to apply the theories relating to what makes a successful visual identity at every stage of the project.
In my essay I discovered that designing for a cultural institution wasn’t as straightforward as designing the visual identity for more commercial products and services as they represented a range of constantly evolving programmes, exhibitions and performances that showcase what Tom Bell (2002) describes as ‘profuse variety in both content and its interpretation’. Bell argued that when creating the identity for a cultural institution the designers must have its content such as it’s programming and performances at the forefront of their designs, as failing to do this could cause a singular branded message to take over and obscure the institution's true contents.
Drawing from this, I used bold, eye-catching images of each performance as the focal point for each design across both the printed and digital collateral, ensuring that the variety in performances was showcased at every aspect of the identity including the front cover of the booklet and the landing page of the website and app.
The purple colour scheme which runs consistently across the collateral was inspired by the local history of Holbeck and the location on which the HUB stands, once famously known as the Lavender, a local public house whose landlord and landlady had an openly ‘lavender’ marriage. It was also the first gay pub in Leeds. By building on an interesting and unique fact about the HUB’s history I created a strong rationale behind my design, which as I discussed in the essay, is an important factor in determining the success and longevity of a cultural institution’s visual identity. The colour scheme I used is also fairly uncommon in the design of promotional materials for institutions like the HUB, meaning my design would be very easily recognisable and memorable when applied in context amongst a pile of other gig posters for example.
Consistency is another key factor in identity design as it creates what the designer Sean Perkins (2013) calls "a strong, simple identifier that can imbue subliminal qualities of strength, security, trust and assurance." As the HUB currently has no branding at all, to an outsider visiting their website for the first time, the institution doesn’t seem very trustworthy or reliable. Therefore, some visitors may be put off visiting as there is no visual consistency. By applying the same typefaces, colour scheme and tone of voice across both the digital and printed collateral I have created a visual language that looks trustworthy and reliable, without overshadowing the true content of the institution.
Considering both modernist and contemporary design principles, similar to Paula Scher’s redesign of MoMA’s visual identity, I implemented a strong yet flexible grid across the entire range of the HUB’s collateral. However, to stay in keeping with the laid-back nature of the HUB I made the layout of the Zine as playful and variable as possible, experimenting with the positioning of both the images and text, with only the date staying in a fixed position in either of the top corners. To increase recognisability of the HUB, when used on promotional posters and flyers I used a consistent layout, only changing the information and the picture. I experimented with the use of an expressive logo for the majority of the project, to symbolise theatre being turned on its head; however, in the final designs, I believed the combination of a consistent typeface, colour scheme and duotone images was strong enough to be used without a logo, similar to the approach used by the Baltic.
An extract in my essay from the designer Adrian Shaughnessy stated that: ‘...good visual branding is honest, graphically expressive and highly memorable. It should be optically sophisticated (not muddled or over-cooked) and it should work in print, digital and broadcast settings.’ (Shaughnessy, 2015) I believe I have achieved all of these factors in my design for Holbeck Underground Ballroom.
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