Friends of Woodend Barn Identity
Since the formation of Woodend Arts in 1994, Woodend Barn has grown into the leading multi-arts organisation in North East Scotland. They nurture and celebrate creativity in all its forms, showcasing innovative, informative and entertaining artistic work all year round – allowing local audiences to benefit from high quality events without travelling for miles whilst also drawing audiences in from further afield.
We were asked to create a new, complementary identity for the Friends of Woodend. The Friends are a valuable component to the Barn. Becoming a Friend gives you early access to tickets and special discounts, but it’s much more than that. The Friends are a group and this in itself provides a valuable social hub for people of all ages to come together.
The design
Key to the design were the wishes that the identity should reflect the ethos of Woodend. Woodend is run by a core group of staff along with approximately 70 volunteers. The Barn has a strong social ethos and community-led spirit.
Three initial concepts were created and out of these one was chosen and refined.
It’s all about the community of The Barn. Even on a day-to-day schedule, there are many groups and organisations evident in the space. There may be people working on a performance in the main stage area whist there’s a workshop in the gallery. Meanwhile, visitors will be enjoying the artisan food at the bistro and gardeners will be sewing and planting vegetables in the allotments outside. These groups are not separate – they ebb and flow into one another.
The identity reflects this nature well. The shape is taken directly from the main Woodend Barn identity, but the colours are taken directly from the natural palette in the surrounding area. These colours are formed into morphic shapes, somewhat kinetic, that illustrate those aforementioned groups flowing in and out of one another.
