What Now Productions is a theatre production company that presents engaging and original new writing on stage and screen. Delivering brilliant, character-driven stories designed to make you feel and think.
Using a bold, san serif font, the primary logo lockup, redrawn to form a recognisable geometric wordmark, projects trust, quality and dependability. Placing the brand confidently amongst its established theatre and cultural peers.
The italicised ‘N’ replicates the angles of the ‘W’s and emphasises the power of theatre to let the audience be in the moment, mindfully engaged in the story. The crossbar of the ‘A’ was removed, also to reflect the ‘W’s at either end of the name whilst bringing additional character to the wordmark. Finally, the ‘O’, redrawn as a visually satisfying perfect circle, providing a visual anchor point at the heart of the lockup.
The punctuation from the two exclamations ‘What?’ and ‘Now!’ are hidden within the word ‘productions’. To be discovered on second glance, they provide a playful nod to creativity and plot twist.
The service was friendly, thorough and professional. Valhalla took a lot of trouble understanding who we are, and used this information cleverly to inform the brand. We hadn’t appreciated how much thinking goes into developing a brand. The process was forensic. We would recommend Valhalla to anybody without hesitation.
Nick Bamford, What Now Productions
The star of the show is the zigzag icon. Born from the initials ‘W’ and ‘N’ in the wordmark and forming a memorable (and flexible) abstract symbol, reflecting the rhythm of a story.
Like great theatre, the symbol is only the starting point. A container for the message. The graphic shape is strong enough to allow unlimited applications, which do not rely upon a fixed colour palette, image type or even specific orientation for brand recall.
A show poster using the zigzag icon as a container to house the main promotional image.
In formal situations, the What Now Productions logo is presented in a red box, employing the brand’s front-of-house colour, Andronicus.
Elsewhere, the logo can be delivered in any colour (to suit individual productions), although a core set of 12 cameo colours (named after minor Shakespeare characters) form an initial palette. In instances where the logo appears on plain backgrounds, a gradient steals the show within the zigzag icon.
Promotional image for the play Whirligig Of Time, showing a selection of brand elements working together. Font, Colour (Osric) and dramatic imagery working in harmony. Juxtaposing a Victorian illustration of Malvolio’s trademark cross gartered stockings with contemporary images speaks both of the heritage of the character and the modern adaptation.
The Hero typeface Kumph Sans provides a slim and elegant solution for headlines, play titles and messages across promotional material. The Extra Light weight allows headlines to run at a large scale without overpowering the design.
If you would like Valhalla to help you with your brand ready for the stage, use the button below and say hello. It could end with a standing ovation!
Pages from the comprehensive Brand Book, detailing how to apply the brand across multiple touchpoints.