Responses by John Pobojewski, partner and design director, Span.
Background: We designed the brand identity and corresponding teaser campaign for the world premiere ballet of The Capulets by Chicago Repertory Ballet’s artistic director Wade Schaaf. The ballet focuses on the Capulet family dynamics from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, including Juliet’s father and mother and their dual affairs with separate lovers. The identity and teaser campaign served to promote the upcoming premiere before set, costume and stage design had even begun.
Design thinking: The brand identity and imagery represents the high status and influence behind Juliet’s famous Italian family through both type and image. The typemark is constructed from customized letterforms derived from a new interpretation of the famously Italian genre of typefaces called Didone, known for narrow serifs and high contrast. The family crest C wraps itself around two separate nude 3-D figures—both Lord and Lady Capulet, composed separately to represent their emotional distance from each other—draped in slightly translucent silk fabric.
Challenges: Creating a brand identity for a production without an established design was both a blessing and a challenge. While there was nothing visual to respond to or take inspiration from, the story and setting allowed us to forge our own path and establish a visual tone through type and image that would ultimately influence the stage design for the final production.
Favorite details: The typemark has a slightly hidden plus sign within the E, which is a nod to the ballet’s focus on connections between Lady Capulet and Tybalt and, simultaneously, Lord Capulet and Paris. While this association is overlooked by nearly everyone, it creates a touch of intrigue and curiosity that draws a viewer into wanting to understand more of what the ballet is about.
New lessons: The offset silk shrouds of the Lord Capulet and Lady Capulet figures were an opportunity to explore cloth dynamics within Cinema4D and Redshift, the software used to create the visual imagery. Ultimately, we discovered we needed to create a collage of two different renderings—one with and one without the figure visible—to make the image impactful.
Visual influences: Both the typographic gestures and the iconic imagery were inspired by the fashion editorial design of art directors like Fabien Baron of Interview and Vogue and Alexey Brodovich of Harper’s Bazaar. Mainly, we felt they would appeal to the Capulets themselves and their focus on image, perception and power.
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