Sean Brosnahan




Teatro del Maggio

01Branding & Identity, Rebrand
Spring 2024
Advised by Silvia Agozzino


World Brand Design Society Silver Award Winner



Background

 Teatro del Maggio is a premier opera and music venue in Florence, Italy that hosts a range of operas, concerts, dance performances, and school shows. The theater’s namesake originates from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the third oldest opera and symphony festival in Europe dating back to 1933.


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The Problem 

 The theatre has struggled to find an identity that aligns with the theater’s contemporary architecture while differentiating itself from other Florentine organizations. The current logo is a stylized version of the “Giglio,” a lily that represents the city of Florence since the 13th century and widely used by Florentines.


The Inspiration: Architecture

The theater moved locations in 2017. Designed by the renowned architect Paolo Desideri, the theater’s new home is a innovative work of modern architecture that reflects a blend of contemporary aesthetics with a respect for classical traditions. The exterior is modern and geometric, consisting of rectangular forms that establish a sense of balance and dynamism that culminate in a prominent facade at the entrance. The interior continues the geometric shapes through the curved balconies, seating, and ornamental features.


The Archive

 I took a trip to the theater’s archive in Florence, where I got to understand its rich history and see their extensive poster archive. This trip particularly inspired the system’s typographic choices. 

Logo Exploration

 I explored geometric shapes to allude to the theater’s architecture, incorporating rectangles that reference the facade and circles/ovals that reference the grand horseshoe-curved balconies.



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The Objective

 Differentiate the theater through an identity inspired by the theater’s contemporary architecture and performance spaces. Not only will the branding help the theater stand out among Florentine organizations, but it will align the brand with the theater’s unique, innovative facility.



Logo & Elements

The logo is derived from the curved and rectangular forms in the theater’s architecture. The curved, semi-oval forms allude to different facets of the interior, such as the the horseshoe-shaped galleries of the auditorium, the curved foyer, and the arrangement of the orchestra. The rectangular forms allude to the geometric exterior and prominent facade. The final logo is comprised of one element that reflects four times to form a circle, representing the four types of performances that primarily occur at the theater. This reflection of the element is also used as the primary behavior in motion design.

The primary design element is one of the four elements in the logo. The sharp perpendicular side of the element is used to frame text and imagery across different mediums, providing a consistent branding element.















Learnings

Branding is designing for user experiences. While it doesn’t necessarily involve product design or UI, brands are experienced by users and require thorough research into history, culture, and personas that go beyond aesthetics. This project is the culmination of my experiences with the city and people of Florence — having lived there for four months while creating this project. Special thanks for my professor Silvia Agozzino for her guidance and persistence to research first-hand!


b.sean@wustl.edu
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