The theatre is run – on a voluntary basis and a shoestring budget – by some of the most passionate and dedicated people you could ever hope to meet. It plays a crucial role in the local community, providing support and mentoring for actors, writers, sound, set and lighting designers of all experience levels.

The logo combines the three initial letters of The New Theatre into one simple mark. It is also completely rotatable, allowing interesting juxtapositions of messaging.

The theatre has a real ‘all in’ mentality, with board-members often seen pulling pints on opening nights. A determination to offer alternative viewpoints and unexpected twists to productions is what has always stood the theatre apart. Now they have a bold, simple and exciting brand that truly celebrates their uniqueness.

New Theatre Brand Video from Interbrand on Vimeo.

Created at Interbrand Australia by Mike Rigby, Chris Doyle, Dean Christie, Gareth Stewart, Eric Ng, Diana Chirillas, Lex Courts and Andi Yanto.

More frequent ramblings from me over on twitter @mikerigby

Here’s a short film of the brand launch – a 500 person protest on the steps of Parliament House – to fight for $500m worth of extra funding and support from the government for people living with the disease.

Join the fight at fightdementia.org

Alzheimer’s Australia from Interbrand on Vimeo.

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In 2003 he wrote his first book ‘It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be’, followed in 2006 by ‘Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite’ describing the creative processes of good design as a metaphor for business practice.

‘It’s Not How Good You Are…’ is a concise guide to making the most of yourself – a pocket ‘bible’ for the talented and timid to make the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible possible. After decades at the top of one of the world’s most competitive industries, Paul Arden offers insights into such diverse subjects as the value of being fired and why it’s often better to be wrong than to be right.

He gives original and logical answers to everyday questions. Much of it appears obvious when you read it, but aren’t all questions easy when you know the answers? Whether you are a school-leaver, self-employed or a managing director, this book is invaluable for everyone who aspires to succeed.

I’ve included a few excerpts below;

A vital book for any designer and at 120 odd pages can be read in a few short journeys over and over again. Available from most good book stores and some rubbish ones too.

They have now turned the series into a free book, which is available to download here.

“What makes a champion of design? The latest jkr book attempts to answer this question by focusing on 25 brands; some famous, some less obvious, but all great. It’s a book about design, but also the people who create and manage it – the champions who can teach us all a lesson. Full of facts, trivia and insight, all served up in bite sized slices.”

I have followed this series and think its brilliantly written. There is something inspirational to take from each brand they have selected. I strongly recommended that any design student read though, learn what makes a good brand, and discover how design is relevant across each and every one.

The book measures only 115mm x 85mm x 40mm, but is bursting with 149 different projects and countless brilliant ideas.

I was lucky enough to catch a look at this book today as it landed in the studio. A great idea to celebrate 10 years of great work at Hat-Trick. They only printed a thousand books, but if you want to get your hands on one, you can buy them here.

When two giants of the New York dance scene came together the resulting brand had to stand out from the crowd. Strategically creating an organisation model that focussed on the cross genre collaboration of artists, we created a name that reflected this new approach -
New York Live Arts.

The resulting brand marque captured the energy and dynamism of the new organisation, and neatly illustrated the core proposition of bringing talent together. The brand goes from strength to strength and continues to be the most talked about arts organisation in the city.

New York Live Arts launched with an impactful advertising campaign rolled out across Manhattan. The concept was based around the aspirations of the people that make up the organisation, from co-founder Tony-award winning choreographer Bill T. Jones, through to the artists, staff and audience members. Commissioning acclaimed photographer Philip Habib, the result was an eclectic and engaging portraiture story that gave the new entity an inclusive and approachable voice.

The brand is designed to create a national movement, not just another campaign. It features a flexible logo that changes and evolves to communicate different messaging – like an ongoing conversation. The identity is very bold, simple and clear, and deliberately cost effective to implement. Using two colours and often, just four words.

It’s a very verbal, typographic brand. This negates the problem of having to buy lots of images (it’s a charity after all). The tone of voice is direct. But whenever we have something negative to say, we always back it up with a positive, a strong call to action…

It works with longer copy too.

We developed a series of icons for use when talking about a particular theme. The fist with a hidden heart was adopted as the protest icon for instance. With the supporting logo reading FIGHT ALZHEIMER’s, SAVE AUSTRALIA (again, the negative and the positive).   

In the last 24 hours the launch has generated lots of positive publicity. With increased funding being debated in parliament yesterday as a direct result of our campaign pressure. The story also ran on the ABC showpiece current affairs program – the 7:30 report (here). We also made Sky News (although they spelt dementia wrong).

It’s a project we’re very passionate about for obvious reasons. And for me, projects like this, just go to show, that being a designer isn’t about shifting more product. It’s not about decoration either. It’s about giving people a voice. People who may lack funding, or expertise, but have something important to say…

The Alzheimer’s team: Joao, Jefton, David, Chris, Mike, Rashna, plus Dean and Chris Doyle who couldn’t be there.

See more over on brainpickings.