The Bridge Repertory Theater of Boston was founded in 2012, dedicated to the connection formed between live actors and live audiences. The company led an itinerant life among several venues, with no coherent visual identity to provide a throughline. I was engaged ahead of their fourth season to overhaul the brand so it better reflected the professional and original quality of their programming.
The result
A brand that gave a venue-hopping company a home of its own. The rebrand coincided with its first major capital campaign, and a year later the company announced a residency in Cambridge and went on to earn critical acclaim.
Disciplines
Art direction, branding, copywriting, design, project management
Deliverables
Brand guidelines, print ads, banner ads, email templates, on-site signage and collateral
Collaborators
Laura Sullivan
Background and research
The challenge: A theater company without a permanent venue has no building to be recognized by. Bridge Rep moved between spaces, and its visual communications moved with it: the artwork changed widely in style and tone from show to show, and nothing tied the seasons together. The company needed to lean much harder on its visual brand to build the familiarity that a “home” venue normally provides.
Original logo
What wasn’t working: For its first three seasons, the company’s logo was an illustration of Boston’s Leonard Zakim Bridge. It was a nod to the company’s name, but it relied on a landmark that belonged to the city, not to the theater. Meanwhile, the show creative below shows how much the look shifted from production to production.
That led to the idea at the center of my proposal to the company: “it’s time to stop using someone else’s bridge and build your own.”
Examples of show creativeA new bridge
The new Bridge Repertory logo
The new logo carries three ideas, each tied to something at the core of the company:
It’s a bridge. It echoes iconic imagery going back to Roman aqueducts, yet stays clean, modern, and unfussy. That timelessness fits a repertoire that spans classics to world premieres.
It’s still under construction. The final arch is left incomplete, which reflects the impermanent nature of the company’s work and its place at the forefront of creating the future of theater.
It literally contains the company’s name. Turned 90° clockwise, the bridge becomes a vertically stacked capital B and R.
Logo in positive and reverse
Typography and hierarchy examples
I developed standards for the logo mark as well as typographic conventions, and these became the core of the visual brand.
A brand in use
Posters outlining past seasons
Sample 1-color brochure spreads
“Working with Kyle on this rebrand was an absolute pleasure. He was dedicated, intelligent, and brought creative solutions to our unique situation.”
—Laura Sullivan, Bridge Rep public relations representative
Social media quote graphic
Baseball cap at rehearsal
Postcard template
“Anatomy of a scene” fundraising poster
Show poster
Results and impact
The rebrand marked a quantum leap forward for the organization and coincided with its first major capital campaign. A year later, the company announced a residency at Cambridge’s Multicultural Arts Center. Its identity as a rebellious group of artists reinventing the way Greater Boston makes theater, bolstered by a sleek visual identity, earned it accolades and critical acclaim.
The ensemble went on to produce world premieres and immersive hybrid theater/party events until it disbanded in 2019.