When it came time to refresh the website and branding of Arizona’s premier performing arts destination, the Herberger sought C/A’s expertise to better reflect the organization’s vital role in the arts community.
The Herberger Theater Center is the home of Arizona’s most renowned performing arts organizations, but it’s more than just a building and some stages. Today, more than three decades since its founding, the Herberger is the connective thread of the local arts community — and Arizona’s center stage. When it came time for a refresh, a dedicated effort was required to craft branding, messaging and a website befitting such a vital part of the community. That’s were Casual Astronaut came in.
Challenge: Like many nonprofit and arts organizations, the Herberger has functioned with a small marketing staff and modest resources. As a result, its branding and website had not been updated in some time and didn’t reflect the prestige of the organization. With an outdated and cumbersome website, it was also hard for audiences to differentiate between the Herberger the venue and its myriad resident companies.
Solution: Starting with a thorough discovery process, C/A helped the Herberger gain a deep knowledge of its various constituencies’ needs and expertise. This set the foundation for a compelling new brand and a bold digital presence expressing the Herberger’s mission, values and ambitions for the future.
Branding
Armed with insights from our discovery research, C/A worked to develop a visual identity for the Herberger that reflected its spirit and vision (see prototypes below). The final logo selection references an iconic element of the building itself and creates instant recognition while imbuing a sense of sophistication.
With a new logo in place, now proudly displayed on the website, C/A created guidelines to help the organization establish consistent and optimal usage through a clear, easy-to-use guide for internal teams and external vendors, offering practical tips on brand elements — from word choices and sample copy to typography and logo usage.
A Better Brand Story
Next, C/A honed stakeholders’ ideas and aspirations into a concrete and compelling brand story — a cohesive narrative that encompassed the history and mission of the organization.
We crafted language that conveyed a tone designed to engage each of the Herberger’s distinct audiences. Drawing from our journalistic experience, we approached each messaging exercise from the audiences’ perspectives: Who are they? What do they care about? How can we engage them and command their attention? C/A then delivered sample messaging to resonate with each group and provided guidelines for usage.
Website Redesign
Launching a new website is a massive commitment for any organization, but it’s particularly momentous for nonprofits with budget considerations and mission-critical initiatives. We were thrilled, then, that the Herberger decided to combine the rebranding work with the redesign of their website, allowing these two projects to inform and complement each other.
The new site we crafted not only reinforced the updated brand positioning, but also improved user experience for front-end users — while still providing an easy-to-manage website back-end for the Herberger team. Our content-centered approach to the website redesign enabled us to create an intuitive, visually appealing experience that ensured users could find what they were looking for while teeing up important transactional opportunities to purchase tickets, make a donation or inquire about venue rentals.
FROM OUR CLIENT
— Laurene Austin, Director of Development & Marketing, Herberger Theater Center