Sundance

Reinvisioning an iconic institution

 
 

Client
Sundance

Role 
Creative Strategy
Workshop Facilitation
Identity Design

Agency
Freelance Consultant

Press
PRINT
Sundance
The School of Visual Arts

Team
SVA Alumi and Faculty

Opportunity
Alongside SVA Masters in Branding alumnae and faculty mentors, reinvigorate Sundance brand identity by creating a timeless system of supporting identities within the Institute brand ecosystem to encompass a multitude of resources and programs.

Utilize the core brand attributes of inspiring, preeminent, catalytic, trailblazing, inclusive and generous to embody all identity development. Champion artists voice in an identity that conveys a highly relevant, modern, multidisciplinary, global and accessible organization.

Note this concept was not selected by the board. To view final identity design for the 2022 Festival, visit PRINT, The School of Visual Arts or Sundance.

 
 
 

“Like planets orbiting a star, moths drawn to a flame, or film lovers gravitating to a screen, life gathers around light. [We] take inspiration from our solar system’s biggest, most radiant source of light and life: the sun. We’re graphically
representing our closest star as a point of, and inspiration for, convergence.”

Sundance Institute

 
 

Proposed Logo Concepts

 

Inspired by the halftone printing process where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, Radiate speaks to Sundance’s ability to permeate into culture to inform, inspire and influence change through art: the core and place of artistic truth and expression

Concept 1: Radiate

Concept 2: Sol

Grounded in Sundance’s natural heritage, Sol is the driving force of through story building, layered and evolving narrative. From the Bonneville Salt Flats to Arches National Park, Sol taps into the magical connection between art, artists and all that is of the Earth.

Concept 3: Torque

Sundance is at the core of creative culture, elevating the role artists play as cultural change agents, empowering both artists and audiences to shape dialogue and achieve impact. Inspired by Centrifugal motion and Neoteric Torsion, Torque frames a moment in time.

Final Concept Development: Sol

Brand Architecture & Pillars

  • Introduces audiences to new work, creating opportunities for them to discover artists and each other.

  • Empower: Protects and promotes creators, opening pathways to help realize their potential.

  • Fosters the development of artists and emboldens creative risk-taking.

  • Transform: Elevates the role artists play as cultural change agents –shaping dialog to achieve meaningful impact.

 
 

Key Learnings

1) When a different shape paired with a different colour, it makes for a more dynamic and flexible visual language.

2) Higher vibrancy colours, paired with more natural tones anchor the concept in Utah’s diverse and ever-changing natural landscape.

 

Considerations

5 structured, yet fluid shapes are made up of 4 brand pillars and the artist’s voice which is the central core. The summation of shapes become, Sundance, a story unfolding.

The collective shapes represent the layers in storytelling, tensions between 3 elements, overlapping narrative, dissemination of the artist’s voice permeating out into culture.

Colours for Institute harken to the original Sundance logo, legacy yellow, and are arranged in combination with colours from Utah’s natural landscape.

 
 
 

Final Chosen Concept

 

The project’s final direction pivoted away from rebranding the Institute as a whole, to target the upcoming annual Film Festival. Sundance’s new visual identity was built upon an ancient realization – locating one’s place on Earth may have begun with the simple act of inserting a stick into the ground and watching its cast shadow move with the sun. With close observation, time, date and the angle of the sun combine to pinpoint one’s position, to define “here.” This final concept reflects the Institute’s continuing mission to discover and promote the work of emerging artists, representing a new convergence that will bring together the power of the in-person experience.

Convergence

 
 
 

“Shepherding the first-of-its-kind partnership between the Sundance design team and the SVA Masters in Branding students and alumni has been a pleasure. Not only did this collaboration unite design experts across a variety of disciplines, but it also highlighted both institutions' commitment to fostering forward-thinking concepts and developing pioneers in the visual arts.”

DeeDee Gordon, Sundance Institute

 
 

Team: Many thanks to the inspiring and creative minds at SVA Masters in Branding.
Faculty Mentors: Tom Guarriello, Mark Kingsley and Melinda Welch. Alumni Strategy Team: Archie Bell, Stephanie Millar, Allison Braund-Harris; Alumni Design Team: Randy Gregory, Dan Onufrishyn, Kim Weiner. Student Design Team: Kristen Branch, Chelsea Carlson, Courtney Duggan, Celine Han, Ryan Nguyen and Emelil Walter. Animation & Art Direction: Connor Campbell Studio, Studio Lowrie.