TCW ‘funks up’ Exchange theatre

Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre has appointed Tucker Clarke-Williams Creative to design a new-look brochure, as part of its strategy to attract a more youthful audience.

TCW Creative beat six other groups to the work, which is worth a £19 000 fee, following an unpaid creative pitch in late February.

According to consultancy creative director Paul Heaton, the brief is to design a ‘funky and adventurous’ piece of print that will appeal to a younger market without alienating the theatre’s existing mainstream audience.

He says it is also crucial that the brochure – one of only two pieces of print publicity that the theatre produces each year – promotes and provides listings information on productions, while also touching on the theatre’s history and other aspects of its offering.

The Royal Exchange Theatre comprises a mainstream theatre, an experimental studio, an education department and a costume hire service. A bookshop, craftshop, restaurant and bar are also situated on the site.

Heaton says TCW Creative’s solution involves the use of ‘lots of block colour, a rigid structure and a more impactful square format’. The group will also introduce new images by photographer Tom Graty. The new-look brochure rolls out in May.