The main decisions were:
a) To make the films the focal point. The previous designs had put too much stress on their own design rather than pushing what people want to see – the films. Anything extraneous was taken out. Movie images were made bigger across all media. Film titles were made bigger across all media.
b) Allowing the Empire brand to stand out more, from making the logo bigger to keeping the design, illustration and colour palette strong yet simple.
c) Readability. Everything was made easier to read, from the cinema times upward.
d) Building on the existing brand because we didn’t want too radical a re-design, there’s no point in a repositioning when there’s no need to.
On all elements we cleaned up the listings, putting the offers in their own place, making the most of the space. We removed the boxes around specialist showings as the separation using lines; typography and colour coding gave better balance.
Press Ads. We placed a border around the ad; this coupled with an increase in font size allows it to stand out from its competitors.
The top and the bottom of the ad were balanced, with the information split into more logical segments, the where and when being at the top, the offers being at the bottom.
Leaflets. We created more room to make more of a statement. We achieved this by changing the format from the previous 2PP A5 to a folded 4PP A5, in turn greatly improving the look and feel. We then produced a cover, top three films synopses and special promotions on the back as well as a centre spread for film listings & cinema specific offers. The film titles are far larger and the smaller text easier to read.
The Quad posters were a joy to do. The weekly film image leads into the now larger listings typography, with offers and call to actions at the bottom.
The background image
The dark colour palette makes the leaflet and poster more dramatic and more prestigious. The background illustration is based on the arc lights and projection beams of classic cinema iconography (with a nod to Vortisicm). The colours used give a strong base for the cinema listings and imagery. There are four different colour ways that alternate in cycles: blue, red, green and purple.
The typography
The typography uses a neutral condensed headline font (Univers 59 Ultra Condensed) that echoes the type used on film poster billing blocks. The font used for the times and certificates (Bell Centennial) were specifically designed for reading at small sizes on all printed materials. The type colours are white excluding the special headlines, the certificate information and separation lines, which are set in magenta, yet enforcing Empire Cinemas brand colours.
The Technical stuff
With Design working tirelessly to freshen up the look and feel, Production and Client Services worked on improving the efficiency of final artwork production. Using advanced automated workflows created from scratch as well as improved production processes, we are proud to say that from initial concepts to final production of artwork, not one element of the design has been compromised. Proving that good automation and improved workflows do not have to impact on design.
Fin
