HYDE PARK PICTURE HOUSE VISUAL IDENTITY
Hyde Park Picture House is an independent Leeds cinema that has recently celebrated its 108 year anniversary. The cinema closed down in 2019 for refurbishment work. For its return, I decided on designing a rebrand that aims to re-introduce this staple of Leeds film to a new audience, while still acknowledging and celebrating its long history.
My design takes inspiration from the past, borrowing its visual language from the original architecture of the building, especially its iconic diamond shape featured on the ticket box, as well as the original stone lettering displayed out front. It also looks to the present and future by taking on a bold, fresh style inspired by the culture and designs of Leeds.
“The Picture House Project means looking backwards as well as forwards – it’s about protecting and preserving our historic features, while at the same time making the building more sustainable, more comfortable and more accessible, as we strive to be the best place to experience film in Leeds.” - The Picture House Project
The visual language is applied all the way down to the promotional materials. The tickets themselves are also transformed from simple receipts to immersive design which communicate and complement certain aspects of the film through user participation. For example, having the ‘Get Out’ ticket validated results in the top of Kaluuya’s character getting ripped open, revealing a subtle foreshadowing detail which the viewer gets to appreciate more after seeing the film.
In this way, the tickets become a place where designers can express more creativity and style, something that a lot of industry professionals argue, has been stripped away from modern cinema posters, which have become generally bland and predictable.
