I was referred to American Repertory Ballet by CMYK, the design studio that had recently redesigned the ballet company’s website. The goal for the brief was to build out a comprehensive set of brand guidelines prior to the company’s 70th Anniversary Gala. The Gala would give ARB the opportunity to reveal their newly minted logo, while the accompanying guidelines would lay the groundwork for both American Repertory Ballet and its affiliated programs to further establish itself as a company with both a rich history and a bright future.

The process for designing the guidelines was first and foremost a collaboration. I had the pleasure of learning about the history of ARB as an organization and community hub, sitting down with their leadership team on-site in Princeton to better understand how they had evolved over the years and where they hoped to go. The design process itself was primarily remote, with our bi-weekly meetings over the three months leading up to the Gala serving as a time for feedback on recent drafts as well as ideation for next steps.

When it came to the aesthetic of the guidelines themselves, I referenced their website for basic formatting and visual direction, leaning into the crisp white lines and deep black background to guide the reader through the document. We parsed not just visual direction, but also took into account messaging and tone, ensuring the company’s values, rather than being replaced completely, were re-contextualized for a contemporary audience. The final set of guidelines encompassed the various logo iterations alongside the verbal tone of the brand and included a guide for photography and image style as well as giving basic formatting examples for merchandise and marketing materials.