It’s showtime!
By The Editors,
Dow Design gets the party started for Auckland's newest creative space, Q Theatre
Create a theatre brand that will inspire, motivate and capture the hearts and minds of Aucklanders—a brief Dow Design was glad to respond to.
Launching in 2011, Q Theatre is anticipated to become Auckland's premier venue for vibrant contemporary drama, dance, music and entertainment. The new theatre is currently under construction in the hub of downtown Auckland's entertainment district, between the Town Hall and the Comedy Club on Queen Street. It will have the capacity to delight up to 460 people with its flexible freeform performance space, which can be configured as a theatre in the round, a traditional proscenium, or any layout to suit the current performance. It will also feature a bar and café, a 120-seat studio, two rehearsal rooms and an education space.
Q Theatre is the vision of the New Theatre Initiative. Formed in 2000, the initiative is an incorporated society of professional performing arts practitioners, who formed a partnership with Auckland City to develop the venue. Many of the original New Theatre executives were involved with The Watershed theatre before its closure in 1998, and subsequently began the campaign to establish a new performance art space. They come with a strong emotional and nostalgic connection to the idea of a theatre to fill the vacuum this much-loved gathering space left for the arts community in Auckland.
Extensive business planning for the operation of the theatre is based on international best practice, and the project is endorsed by Auckland City Council and significant regional arts bodies and supporters such as ART (Arts Regional Trust) and ASB Community Trust.
The task was to ensure that the theatre brand was powerful, yet also flexible enough not to be regarded as corporate. The brand had to have the ability to breathe
The Q Theatre board selected Dow as its brand partner for its creative expertise, professionalism and the fresh perspective it could offer the contemporary performance space, which aims to reflect the best of creative New Zealand: from the development and realisation of the brand, to the architecture and space, to the overall experience for the audience.
"In forming any new identity, Dow focuses on distilling the proposition and making the message succinct … in other words, the brand," says strategic development director Andy Jaquet. "Get that right, and you will have a truth you can promote."
Join the Q
"Having an idea is one thing, but having a team with the commitment to make that idea a reality is another, and the team behind the formation of this new theatre space has been extraordinary in its commitment," says Dow director Annie Dow.
The branding of Q Theatre has been central to getting the money men excited and making the project a reality. It has helped sell the concept, raise funds, maintain momentum and keep everyone involved in the project focused on the outcome.
From the outset, the task was to ensure that the theatre brand—and its brand story or map—was powerful, yet also flexible enough not to be regarded as corporate. The brand had to have the ability to breathe.
The naming of the venue was the first task. While many of the names considered seemed slightly highbrow, Dow's thinking was that the performance space should be presented as accessible—not just a space for the elite, but to be enjoyed by all. The simplicity of 'Q'—Q for Queen Street, Q for queue, Q for theatre cue—struck that chord.
The journey continues
"A fascinating element of this project has been the ability to share our work at such an early stage," says Andy Jaquet. "Unlike most of a brand agency's work, which is hugely commercially sensitive and never released until launch, we have been happy to share the evolutionary process."
Designing a marque with impact and focus, as well as simplicity, was key to successfully conveying the message. The brand marque will become a seal of quality and an endorsement of excellence in performance. It can be used in a variety of ways—as a window, a solid, constructed with different elements or textures—ensuring it remains as fluid, vibrant and diverse as the theatre space it represents.
The first large expression of the brand is contained in new hoardings, recently (and prominently) erected on Queen Street, Greys Avenue and Mayoral Drive. This announces the vibrant entertainment soon to be unleashed with a key message: that the Q Theatre will bring its audience closer to the arts than they have ever been before. Q Theatre's brand expression intends to lift the human spirit, and on a damp winter's day on Queen Street, its bright hoarding promises to do just that.
Branding for Q Theatre is accessible and joyous, and covers the website, signage, advertising and print collateral
As the project unfolds, so will the brand. Central to the process will be connecting a community with a passion for the performing arts, and to be agile, collaborative and extraordinary.
Once built, the Q Theatre will not only be a performance space, but a place that connects people in an inspirational, multi-purpose, multi-disciplinary space. Dow will be developing the concept to cover all touch points, where the public interact with the brand, including the website, brochures, newsletters, way-finding and posters.
"It is a huge honour to be part of the development of what will be one of Auckland's central entertainment venues," says Annie Dow. "As they say … watch this space."
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