Project: Criterion Cinemas
Breathing new life into a dead movie theater.
OVERVIEW: Student work for my ART 132: Introduction to Graphic Design class. The project was the first half of an assignment to rebrand a public space in New Haven, CT. I chose the now-extinct Criterion Cinemas in New Haven, an indie movie theater that was bought by Bow Tie Cinemas at the turn of the century, before eventually being shut down. My goal was to revitalize the branding of an obsolete movie theater so that it could appeal to younger generations of movie-goers, many of which have found a newfound love for movies.
- How do I create a logo that appeals to younger audiences while maintaining the essence of a historical indie movie theater?
This project culminated in me choosing a logo, color palette, and a new typeface for Criterion Cinemas.
TIMELINE: Oct 2023 - Nov 2023
TEAM: Aditya Das (just me)
ROLE: Designer
TOOLS: Adobe Illustrator, Figma
SKILLS: Graphic Design, Branding, Identity
Final color logo of the movie theater.
REDEFINING CRITERION
To give a modern spin on cinematic iconography, I overlaid three "movie screens" on top of each other. The slight, uneven rotation of each screen represents how the movie theater is breaking from the mold (and it's own past branding) and trying something new and interesting. The additive color mixing also references how color projections work while also symbolizing that the movie theater is a space for people from all backgrounds to gather and meet one another--an emphasis on community that wasn't accentuated in the past branding. If you're curious, here's the past branding for the theater:
Strangely, there is no official logo of the theater on any website that I could find. And whatever Criterion Cinemas logo there was before that is long gone.
I mean sure, it's a abstraction of a bow tie. But it fails to represent the inclusive and independent space that the theater had become to many New Haven residents. And apart from the "classic movie theater" red that the movie logo uses, it gives absolutely no indication at all that the logo is even supposed to represent a cinema.
THE FULL PROPOSAL
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