Job:12-84823 Title:RP-Graphic Design That Works (LDW)
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DanceWorks
Client
Danceworks is a modern dance company,
based in Austin, Texas, that incorporates
technology into its choreography.
DESIGNER
Kevin Whitely
FIRM
Action Figure
Process
After changing its name from The Sharir Dance Company to Danceworks, the client
needed a new logo and hoped for one that would appeal to the college-age popula-
tion of its home base in Austin, Texas. To designer Kevin Whitely, that meant avoid-
ing the clichés often found in dance logos—leaping people, for example, or dangling
toe shoes—and creating something unexpected instead. So he turned away from the
“Dance” part of the company’s name and focused instead on “Works,” concentrating
on its use to describe the industrial systems in power plants or factories. To visually
convey this idea, Whitely chose a wrench. As a tool, a wrench joins different ele-
ments together, a function which echoes that of a dance choreographer. As a graphic
form, a wrench is easily identifiable in large sizes or small, making it suitable for a
logo. Next, Whitely opted for a photographic image, rather than an illustration, so
that the tool’s industrial feel would not be lost. He placed a wrench directly on a
scanner, entered the image into the computer, then used Photoshop to clean up its
outline and add shading, highlights, and drop shadows. For the company’s name,
Whitely chose Akzidenz Grotesk, a typeface whose unembellished letterforms recall
the straightforward lettering engraved on tools. Before adding it to the wrench, how-
ever, he modified the logotype by photocopying it multiple times to give it a worn
feel that matched the mottled, nicked surface of the wrench. Of the result, Whitely
says, “We didn’t want to do anything frilly or soft. We were aiming for something
hard, something that was the exact opposite of dance. And because there is a touch
of humor to the mark, I think it appeals to young people who would never even con-
sider spending a Friday night at a modern dance performance.”
What Works
The logo, a photographic image of a wrench with the client’s name set in Akzidenz
Grotesk across it, serves as a visual metaphor for choreography, equating the rar-
efied art of creating dance movements to the down-to-earth skills of carpentry or
plumbing.
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