Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Mutation Theatre Identity

Mutation Theatre is one of Melbourne's most exciting experimental theatre companies. From translating Shaun Tan's 'The Arrival' in an immigration shed to backyard banter in a Fitzroy apartment, Mutation's founder Pat McCarthy is a true visionary. I was wrapped when he asked me to reinvigorate the Theatre Company's visual identity.

 The name 'Mutation' eventuated from the Theatre Company's constantly changing point of view so I wanted a logo that would swap and change. By definition, a mutation is the change in a DNA sequence, this feeds into the word 'mutant'... aww yeah :)

Stefan Sagmeister's 'Casa Da Musica' (House of Music) theatre logo is a great example of visual mutation. It mimics the 3D shape of the theatre itself and changes angle and colour for each performance.  See below,



With this in mind, I drew up two rough ideas. They both played with the idea of mutating light and characteristics. Both had this kaleidoscopic overlay which really excited me. Pat and I were keen to pursue the option on the right.
The triangular patterns relate to the three directions that light bounces in when it hits an uneven surface. Though the selected logo was good, it needed to be simpler, especially becuase it'd be thumbnail size a lot of the time. Keeping that in mind, I created the below concept.


The idea here is that the colour and photo change to suit every show. The blurry light spots are, again, a result of moisture hitting light and the camera's lens; mutation. The idea worked so he created  a default logo plus text only variation and another for Mutation's next show, 'Liberate Yourself From My Vice-Like Grip'.




Check out the The Mutation Theatre Blog, Facebook and Twitter. Definitely go see a show if you can, it'll change your view of entertainment entirely.

Cheers,

Mete.

No comments:

Post a Comment