Pina Bausch Branding - Sean McMahon Designs

Pina Bausch Branding Style Guide

Brand Vision Why?

The current graphic design for the Pina Bausch website has a tremendous opportunity to bring the brand into alignment conceptually with Bausch’s work, which is the embodiment of dance expressionism. The ideals that Bausch championed in her choreography are related to the ideals of Swiss Minimalism. The idea that the design elements should be simple, refined, and are present to frame the concept of the work, are similar to how Pina Bausch choreographed her work.

Pina Bausch, as the modern embodiment of dance expressionism in the later 20th Century, is rooted in the same principles as Swiss Minimalism. The brand design should be in alignment conceptually with her work.

This is the new Pina Bausch Logo

These are the logo variations in brand colors

Background

Philippine “Pina” Bausch (7/27/40-6/30/2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as Tanztheater. Bausch’s approach was noted for a stylized blend of dance movement, prominent sound design, and involved stage sets, as well as for engaging the dancers under her to help in the development of a piece, and her work had an influence on modern dance from the 1970s forward. She created the company Tanztheater Wuppertal, which still performs internationally.

Pina Bausch is one of the most influential contemporary choreographers of this era, who was influenced greatly by the expressionists and the idea that the form that the choreography takes should be decided by the subject of the work. There should not be a predetermined way that the choreography should be danced, because it should be framing and presenting the subject as its primary goal. As a young dancer her, work was highly influential to my own choreography and performance.

Target Audience

Fans of dance, modern dance, contemporary dance, and Pina Bausch. People who appreciate the influence of strong women on the world. People who appreciate modern art, Minimalism, Expressionism, and Bauhaus, and who can understand their influence through multiple genre’s.

Design Solution

Pina Bausch, as the modern embodiment of dance expressionism in the later 20th Century, is rooted in the same principles as Swiss Minimalism. With an opportunity to bring the design into alignment with her work conceptually was an incredible opportunity to honor one of my favorite artists and their legacy. The notable omission of a memorable logo on both websites was also an opportunity that I was grateful to work on. My branding guideline and associated designs focus the design of the website on Bausch and her work, which is an appropriate design solution in general, but also important for this artist and her legacy and the conceptual framework of Bausch’s choreography.

Logo Process

For the logo design, I looked at pictures of Pina Bausch’s choreography, focusing on individual shots of dancers, where I could see the letters P and B. I sketched out the lines that I saw in their bodies, and then through a series of sketches in pencil, I tried to abstract these shapes into logos that would hold the letters P and B, but where I could also see the original form of the dancer.

I drew my favorite 5 sketches into drawings in adobe illustrator using my Wacom tablet and developed these until I found the one that looked the most like an abstract dancer but also had elements of P and B.