Relaunching CDP in DC, Artistic Director Diane Coburn Bruning approached me about redesigning the logo after moving from NYC and a performing hiatus. She felt the company had new life in a new city and wanted to share that energy with her audience. Diane also wanted to stand out in the crowded DC performing arts scene. 

I led her through a brainstorming process to clarify her thinking visually, as well as my understanding of the essence of the offered product, in this case, a small group of ballet dancers on stage with a string quartet, performing in small spaces. 

I presented Diane and Drew Coburn, our branding consultant and Diane’s brother, with several options for logo design, mostly graphic abstractions of movement and the CDP initials. I wanted to capture the idea of dance in a contained element, easily published on social media and along with other arts organizations, partners and sponsors. 

Diane and Drew chose a stylized logotype with a green to black gradient, liking the simplicity and straight-forwardness of the name being the logo. They also liked the felicity of the sage green with a bold-italic Optima font, leaning forward, with the ascenders and descenders of the letters in interplay, as the dancers and musicians are in performance.

After attending events and designing the logo in various iterations, I recommended a shift from green to the complimentary red, adding to the sophistication and energy of CDP’s communications. 

CDP performs in D.C. with a “spot of red,” a nod to our branding choice and Diane’s personal style as artistic director.