SIFF Branding

Shining a spotlight on the organization
that brings stories into focus.

In full collaboration with Chelsea Johnson

Challenge

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is truly a hub for cinema and diverse stories in Seattle. It highlights a wide array of voices, bringing the spotlight to local and international creators. It’s an exciting, vibrant, and active organization. How might we create branding that presents SIFF itself in vivid color?

Solution

This brand refresh focused on SIFF’s important community role as an amplifier of new and lesser heard stories. We brought attention to SIFF’s unique identity by positioning SIFF as the portal that brings these stories into focus. This brand refresh is an updated interpretation of a widescreen, relying on color and shape to represent light. SIFF’s new branding reflects its role as a window into the diverse world of film.

Time

12 Weeks

Roles

Art Direction
Visual Design
Web Design
Motion Design

Skills

Typography
Branding
Print Layout
Motion Graphics

Tools

Illustrator
InDesign
Photoshop
After Effects

Research Summary

SIFF is a nonprofit organization that brings people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world via the Seattle International Film Festival, SIFF Cinema, and SIFF Education. Recognized as one of the top film festivals in North America, SIFF is the longest, most highly attended film festival in the United States, reaching nearly 140,000 annually. SIFF Cinema exhibits premiere theatrical engagements, repertory, classic, and revival film showings 363 days a year on five screens at the SIFF Cinema Uptown, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, and SIFF Film Center, reaching more than 175,000 attendees annually.

Process

Our team engaged in an extensive process to outline SIFF’s defining characteristics. We collected a wide variety of images and arranged them along a spectrum that ranged from “who we are” to “who we are not.” Using a word association technique, we discerned adjectives that underscored SIFF’s personality. From these adjectives, we defined three tonal territories that would later inform our main concept; we felt that SIFF was offbeat, dynamic, and converging. By deeply examining these words, we were able to start making design decisions.

Concept and Color

The branding exercises helped us define key characteristics of SIFF as offbeat, dynamic, and converging. Ultimately, SIFF is an organization that showcases voices. It brings stories into focus. Film itself is a perfect metaphor for this process; but a modern, bright take on film, rather than the cliche or expected. Using color and shape, we developed photo and type treatments that echo the central concept.

The brand colors are a modern take on technicolor; they are bright and bold, referencing an historic and monumental innovation in film, but fresh and updated.

Logo

This new logo is a visual representation of SIFF’s role in the film community—the letters together make up a widescreen, and are knocked out of the color fields to showcase whatever is behind. The animated logo reflects SIFF’s dynamic storytelling focus through bright color and the widescreen frame.

Print

As a large organization, SIFF advertises to both local film-goers and to a national audience. Print advertisements and posters must be eye-catching and exciting, and reflect the excitement generated by a colorful and busy organization.

Merch

As a member organization, it's important for SIFF to have a variety of merchandise available to volunteers, members, and cinema visitors. This merch also functions as advertisement.

Web

SIFF's website is a hub for the organization; it's where members and viewers can find schedules and access online courses and showings. Likewise, its emails are filled to the brim with useful and actionable information about how to participate. Its online presence needs to feel modern but also be easily digestible and navigable.

Brand Book

SIFF’s identity has been documented in a brand book, which comprehensively demonstrates how the brand should be presented across channels. The brand book ensures the proper execution of the brand expression.