MISALLIANCE REPERTORY THEATRE (Chicago, IL) was formed in mid-2019 after its beloved founding theatre, ShawChicago, decided to call it a show after 25 years in March. One of ShawChicago’s primary torch carriers, Robert Scogin, passed away in 2018 after serving as its artistic directors for 23 years. Longtime Shaw theatre members decided to carry forth ShawChicago’s tradition by forming Misalliance Repertory Theatre. They contacted me in late 2019 to prepare a 2020 brand identity overhaul for internal, productions, merchandising, and mass media marketing initiatives. Its board members were instrumental along the way with democratic feedback leading to a final branding identity package—as well as wanting all of the designs for future merch and marketing initiatives. It’s extremely rare at the end of any identity development campaign to be asked for every design produced due to an overwhelming amount of positive feedback exclaiming how tough it was to single out one when the board wanted all ideas for taking different, non-traditional approaches to marketing. I typically don’t release all concepts, but I granted permission to reproduce as needed. Theatre production companies are an asset to American culture—the industry struggles to attract young audiences because many theatre programs are being cut in America’s public school systems. Grants for the arts are being cut at state and federal levels which leave small, independent, theatre production companies to rely on fundraisers, donations, and public support. This is the difference between me and marketing firms—I actually understand and research my clients industries and get to know their situation. I take empathy into account over budgeting and billing thirty times more the amount I should be compared to scumbag marketing agencies—of which Chicago and the rest of America is drunk, high, and loaded on already. Can’t wait to see what Misalliance does in 2020 and beyond! Get to know the process below; this is a decent 101 showcase to help ya understand the many design avenues which go into dressing up an organization with a rich cultural history in theatre.
ClientMisalliance Repertory TheatreServicesBrand Direction, Design, and MerchandisingYear2020