Sundance Film Festival

As the largest and longest-running independent film festival in the United States, Sundance has introduced the world to generations of groundbreaking work, yet it operated without an enduring identity system. Each year, they built a new identity from scratch, which drained their resources and left them without direction on how to communicate throughout the year.

To reflect their role as an established arbiter of independent film, a robust evergreen identity gives Sundance Film Festival structure and flexibility. Anchored by a dynamic logo frame and the voice of a narrator, this is a brand built for longevity: strengthening recognition while preserving their focus on a multiplicity of voices.

Established in 1985, Sundance Film Festival is the largest and longest-running independent film festival in the United States. They’ve fostered new voices and risk-taking films, debuting iconic titles of the indie canon: American Psycho to Love & Basketball, Call Me by Your Name to CODA, Little Miss Sunshine to Fair Play.

Each January, the Festival introduces a global audience to groundbreaking work and emerging talent in independent film. Creating an enduring brand for one of the most important players in independent film posed a unique challenge: the identity needed to represent a legacy as well as a forward-looking ethos — at once timeless and contemporary. To do this, we developed a brand language that—just like the festival—supports a multiplicity of stories and perspectives.