Paula Scher designs bold new identity for New York’s Atlantic Theater Company

Founded in 1985, the Atlantic Theater Company in New York is one of the city’s most influential off broadway theatre companies and is known for its daring productions by new and established playwrights. Pentagram partner Paula Scher has designed a new identity that successfully gives the company a visual personality that matches its bold approach to theatre.

Paula worked closely with the Atlantic’s artistic director Neil Pepe and managing director Jeffory Lawson throughout the process and the team were keen to have a graphic identity to “raise its institutional profile and stand out in the city’s crowded arts landscape.” Producing six new productions a year, it was key the identity could be adapted but still remain consistent. The identity extends across posters, programmes and other promotional material and utilises found imagery, montages and photo illustrations alongside the spotlight-like “A” shape that serves as the Atlantic’s emblem. In bright hues of blue, red and white, the topographic-based identity is strong, punchy and perfectly encompasses the spirit of the Atlantic and the shows it stages.