Changing your reputation can be hard. Telling someone you’re not what you used to be is even harder:
We’re not just the pictures anymore.

For the Strand Arts Centre, changing that conversation has become about building for the future.

d

Overview

Since opening in 1935 the Strand Cinema has played a formative part in the culture and identity of East Belfast and is the last of the pre-war Belfast cinemas. To say it has become a landmark and fixture in the hearts of the community would be an understatement. But therein lies the problem.

In the face of change, it’s hard to get people to fight for something that they think has always been there and always will be. But branding gives us the opportunity to change a conversation, to start a new one. To change an offering or build a movement.

Since 2012 we’ve helped change the conversation around the Strand Arts Centre, as they seek to grow from just ‘the pictures’; positioning them as East Belfast’s newest cultural hub whilst still retaining their identity as Northern Ireland’s only independent cinema. Nostalgic re-runs and traditional Saturday morning kids clubs now sit alongside cutting-edge comedy and experimental theatre.

But that’s the power of a good brand. It allows the old to move with the time whilst still retaining its sense of self.

Differentiation

Giving them a new visual identity has been about connecting the Strand Arts Centre back to its past — its original purpose as a performing arts centre — whilst keeping the sense of what people have come to identify it with.

Process

Developing a distinct typographic style has allowed us to anchor the new brand against the changing styles of the latest blockbusters, theatre troupes and musical acts. No matter what it’s showing the Strand still stands out.

Colophon

Everything means something.
What do you mean?

We’re a branding studio that creates & manages brands that mean something. Because when a brand means something to someone, that’s powerful.

We’d love to talk to you about what you do— past, present or future. From start-ups to established organisations, your brand should mean something.

Talk to us...
+44 (0)28 9073 8744
enquiries@studiostereo.co.uk