How do you design youth? The Young Vic’s new logo uses motion blur to flip dated theatre branding

How do you design youth? Traditionally, the youth is seen as trendy, modern, in front of the curve. For venturethree, the advertising agency behind the Young Vic’s newest identity, youth signifies vitality, a restlessness, forward momentum. In previous identities, the Young Vic, a self-described “disobedient theatre” was characterised by a graffiti-stencil look, communicating a suburban teenagery feel, but it felt a little dated. The identity needed mobility, so venturethree gave it legs.

The new logo is hand-created rather than set in an existing typeface, but designed to echo Modern Gothic by AllCapsType, the primary typeface used across the identity system – and it looks like you’re heading right towards it through a forwards motion blur that prompts viewers to lean on the edge of their seat. “The two [the logo and Modern Gothic] speak to each other without being identical, which gives the system coherence while offsetting the handmade, imperfect quality that makes the logo feel distinct,” says Regine Stefan-Aboud, creative lead at venturethree. Within this visual overhaul, an aliveness is key, shifting in intensity depending on context and application. “It feels young by being energetic and a little unresolved,” says creative lead Laura Oakden. On tickets, it gives a lovely, inviting glow. On paper, it becomes impressively dusty, like the Young Vic has burned itself in. And when the logo turns white, it’s like a portal has opened up.

Out with the past and in the new, the Young Vic saw an opportunity to sharpen what it stands for to reflect the ambition of Nadia Fall as its artistic director and to reach new audiences within the changing theatre landscape. The institution wanted to maintain its world-class reputation as well as a community-led vibe.

The system as a whole is designed to hold both prestige and that signature disobedience at once. The new logo almost looks like it’s something that needs to be caught, like lightning in a bottle. It puts the zoom in ‘zoomer’. At night, the Young Vic emits a warm glow from The Cut, it’s bar and restaurant next to the theatre, so those yellows, browns and reds leaking out from within became the foundation of the palette. For the Young Vic logo, the yellow was retained, but made a little fresher and vibrant so that “it feels like light”, says designer Thom Skinner. “A strong red adds warmth, intensity and electricity, offset against a rich brown to create a colour combination that feels dramatic yet refined.”

On the poster for Thelma & Louise: A New Musical, the Young Vic logo sits on top of a road winding down into a sun-baked desert – and it looks a completely natural part of the road-movie propulsion at the heart of the play. The team wanted to make a case for “a shared, in-person experience for theatre that brings people together, so the visual system replicated a feeling of closeness and gravitational pull that is characteristic of experiencing live theatre at the Young Vic,” says Sarah McGuigan, strategy director. The blur and perspective built into the logo creates intensity, “capturing the way the spaces at the Young Vic collapse the distance between artist and audience,” says Laura. “It feels alive and in motion.”