The Gate Theatre | Responsive Web Design & Development

The Challenge

Strategy / Brand Strategy, Positioning, Tone of Voice, Marketing Planning and Implementation

Brand / Branding, Visual language, Design, Advertising, Production Comms Material

Digital Marketing / Marketing Strategy, Email Marketing, Social Media Planning, Digital Ads Set Up & Optimisation

Website / User Journey Mapping, User Experience Design, Front End Design, Development

The Gate Theatre has been at the forefront of Irish Theatre for almost a century with an international reputation for works produced at home and toured internationally. However, from a branding perspective the Gate had a range of logos in operation, multiple design styles and no consistency across its various forms of communication.

This was causing an identity issue for the Gate in communicating to their audience and brand recognition. This was a real challenge as over the years so many variants of the brand existed in every nook and cranny of the Theatre. Due to the variety of logos in operation and differing colour schemes, the Gate had lost its sense of identity.

The Solution

izest undertook an extensive strategy session and brand discovery with all stakeholders of the theatre to understand issues and how to resolve them. This was key to ensure we were fully informed of the theatre’s positioning and its key goals. We investigated how The Gate communicates, customer touch points, financial channels and marketing strategies to clearly define the aims of the project. We undertook a full review of all design collateral in use within the Theatre to establish a list of deliverables and also to understand the varying styles in use.

The solution for the new brand came from looking to the past. When the Gate theatre was founded in 1928 there was a spirit of innovation and experimentation which offered Dublin audiences an introduction to the world of European and American theatre which we aimed to recapture in the new brand. The new brand is literally the stacked characters of the Gate with the new letterforms breaking out from the other characters.

The Results

The new brand and visual language was unveiled as part of the new production calendar, the first under new director Selina Cartmell. The new identity featured a new logo, visual identity rollout across all touch points, a new website as well as the design and development of the new season of productions. The season was a huge financial success with the first production of the season The Great Gatsby seeing the sellout run for the theatre in over a decade.