SF Ballet dances to new design

The US’s oldest professional ballet company, San Francisco Ballet, has unveiled a fresh brand identity to celebrate its 75th anniversary, designed by MetaDesign.

The rebranding aims to reinforce the international reputation of the company and position the organisation for the future.

MetaDesign creative director Brett Wicken worked in collaboration with SF Ballet artistic director Helgi Tomasson at MetaDesign San Francisco to create the identity system.

The logo aims to highlight the dance company’s repertoire and establish the ballet as an ‘exciting and cultural destination’. It combines elements from the traditional 19th century typeface Didot with the contemporary Galaxie Polaris.

Tomasson says, ‘The new SF Ballet logo takes the concept of ballet as a traditional art form and brings it to a new, contemporary place that represents the company today.’

Additionally, elements of the logo are ‘choreographed’ as if on a stage, and the letters are orchestrated to suggest the dynamic nature of the ballet art form. It highlights the production lighting and shadows created on-stage through the use of a grey colour palette.