when we were asked to create a new brand for a wildly creative theater company that honors new york’s workers – and believes that theater should be affordable and accessible to all – first, we screamed a little, then we got to work.

a new brand that works for everyone.

the watsons were tasked with creating a full rebrand to include comprehensive guidelines — and digital, social, event, and collateral assets. we also developed canva templates for social and email that allowed working theater to produce them in-house and in brand compliance.

the new brand aesthetic was inspired by the posters, flyers, buttons, and signs of the various movements throughout history for workers’ rights, racial justice, political revolutions, and social causes. generally produced in a diy fashion, the materials were often put together hastily by grassroots community organizers, union workers, and ordinary citizens. 

the power of these resonant vehicles is derived from their audaciousness, urgency, authenticity, emotionality, and bold call-to-arms.

while the graphic design of this genre has historically ranged in style, we referenced some commonalities to spotlight working theater’s mission to tell stories that reflect the diverse communities that comprise the working majority. stories that acknowledge oft-denied power and advocate for equality, fairness, and justice.

in marrying this look with the working theater mission, we position the theater as a brand built around the lives and legacies of organizers, advocates, defenders, educators, champions, and, ultimately, catalysts of transformation.