I designed a brand identity for Shadwell, an opera and music theatre company based in the UK.

In my research, I started to notice this distinctive horse shoe shape in the floorplan of many opera houses. This is the shape of the auditorium, where the audience sit during performances. This architectural structure encodes something fundamental about the communal nature of live experiences, with audience members turned inwards towards each other, as well as facing the stage.

The logo is comprised of two of these horse shoe shapes, which form a letter S, and also suggest two human heads or figures. This aligned with core values of turning the focus on audience members, and breaking down the boundary between stage and audience.

I wanted the brand to have a flowing, handmade feel, to capture the imperfect, human qualities of orchestral music. I moved between digital and physical media, using ink brushes to trace digitally refined shapes.

Building on the logo's horseshoe shape, I crafted a wordmark with custom lettering, achieving a distinctive typographic style that aims to be both classic looking but also friendly and informal.