Software House - John Weston Group

Concept

How do you reinvent a puppet theatre to make it a cheerful and appealing venue for children, adolescents, and adults alike? To answer that question, we were commissioned with undertaking a comprehensive rebranding of the theatre. One part of the effort included opening the venue to adult audiences. After a series of workshops, we identified key challenges in boosting the appeal of the Banialuka Theatre in a new, digital reality, and outlined potential avenues of tackling them. A new logotype and key visual further broadened the institution’s options and helped both actors and audiences rediscover it anew by showing Banialuka in a wholly new light.

Process

Banialuka approached us to throw a fresh coat of paint over their brand and help bring it into the twenty-first century. The venue’s target audience also grew to include not only children and adolescents, but also adults. Our comprehensive rebranding effort also included revamping the theatre’s website and sales systems. Not only did we overhaul its image, we spearheaded the theatre’s digital transformation, too. We deployed an administrative suite that enabled staff to manage the venue from on- and off-site, and introduced a modernized online ticket booking and sales platform alongside a custom system designed to service submissions to an international puppetry festival. Developing a detailed submission form that would streamline the process proved quite the challenge.

STEP BY
STEP

/ Step 1

The Black Horse Method Branding Workshop

We began with a branding workshop using our original Black Horse Method, which allowed us to compile detailed information about the needs of the developed brand.
/ Step 2

Branding

The branding strategy was developed from a detailed briefing combined with an in-depth audit of the situation at the institution, which, despite its sprawling body of work, found itself lagging behind the times image-wise. Together, we managed to create something fresh and timeless. The new logotype and key visual further underscored Banialuka Theatre’s artistic accomplishments.
/ Step 3

UX Workshops

The Hatch Method, another custom approach from our portfolio, involves using workshops to collect all the necessary information about IT projects from which then a detailed UX strategy is developed. With this approach, we were able to quickly map out key objectives and identify relevant app features.
/ Step 4

Prototyping

The effort to design the theatre’s website, the administration suite, and the festival management system kicked off with prototyping based on the UX strategy drafted earlier, and working out the websites’ detailed structure. Each subpage was then rendered into a clickable prototype.
/ Step 5

Graphic Design

Immediately after the prototypes and features were approved, we began designing the website’s main page and two subpages that demonstrate component usage in various configurations. After these were approved, we developed the final layout alongside an entire bank of necessary components.
/ Step 6

Frontend Deployment

The final layout we designed was then deployed and integrated with the backend prepared by a developer team. Strong collaboration between frontend and backend teams allowed us to develop the product dynamically and release subsequent updates at a consistent pace.
/ Step 7

Photo Shoot

A new key visual brought us new opportunities to showcase the theatre’s acting talent. An unorthodox photo shoot that we planned and produced gave us a solid foundation upon which to build a visually demanding but profoundly artistic website.
/ Step 8

Brand Video

We were also commissioned to film a new brand video that would promote the theatre. The footage showcased the art of puppetry, the theatre’s actors, as well as the entire process of puppetmaking and putting on puppet shows.

Specification

We love challenges and we love magic. The most challenging projects tend to bring us the most joy. Working with the Banialuka, one of the most famous puppet theatres in all of Europe, founded in Bielsko-Biała all the way back in 1947, was definitely one such project. The Banialuka Theatre is also responsible for The Puppetry Festival, an important event in the world of international puppetry.

Concept

Process

STEP BY
STEP

Specification

Other
CASE STUDIES

/ PRACUJ W VOLVO

/ PRODUB.APP

/ Banialuka Puppet Theatre