Playhouse Village
A new name and a new identity revitalizes one of Pasadena’s oldest districts—as a village.
The neighborhood that flourished around the Pasadena Playhouse genuinely looks, feels, and functions as a village. Therefore we named it Playhouse Village.
Nearly a century ago, a group of proud citizens came together to fund the audacious idea of building a world-class theater in an orange grove.
Since 1925, Pasadena Playhouse has stood as a powerful symbol of community. As the neighborhood modernized, more cultural institutions sprung up around El Molino Avenue. The last few decades have seen the area diversify, grow younger, and play host to new enterprises.
The Playhouse District Association hoped for a new identity to revive enthusiasm in the area and launch a host of community initiatives all part of a strategic development plan.
The brand audit we conducted brought to light nuanced feedback around the name Playhouse District — reported as both an asset and a liability.
It appeared as if the Playhouse District's efforts to supporting local businesses' growth came to the detriment of building emotional connections with the people living, shopping, and dining in the area.
We pointed out that a refreshed identity might not suffice to forge emotional connections with folks in the district. People would have to first feel at home in the area, and we learned a new name would engender that more than any logo could. We wanted everyone to genuinely belong in the district, naturally recognize themselves in its name, and inevitably resonate with its new brand.
Sometimes it does not come down to how many times you can ask a question, but what the question is. Once we switched asking “What is the District?” and started inquiring about “Who is the District?” we began to understand what may actually have been in the way of progress.
Looking into the etymology of district, we found out that distringere meant to “draw apart” in ancient latin, and districtus meant to “restrain of offenders”. It is only in 17th century French that the word district as we know it appeared, and it meant “an area of jurisdiction within which the feudal lord may take and withhold personal property”.
We realized the area had outgrown its name because it had far outgrown its definition. The health of the community was defined by business owners and their customers just as much as the real estate investors and the residents. It truly was a village.
Brian Wallace, President/CEO at Playhouse Village Association
“DISTINC_ was incredibly thoughtful in approaching our longstanding conundrum with our brand, which was the identity and confusion resulting from our namesake institution, the Playhouse. Jean-Marc-Marc did a lot of soul-searching with our stakeholders, staff and Board to assess what we ultimately wanted to be as a place, and created a new brand identity to support it. The evolution of our name and brand to Playhouse Village (from District) have given us more prominent visible, political and community recognition. We successfully leveraged it to have the City name a newly-built park for Playhouse Village, cementing a new emphasis on building community which has been our most valuable endeavour to build our brand in our history. We plan for it to continue to live on for many years!”
Services
-
An immersive study investigates quantitative data and qualitative evidence from a variety of stakeholder groups. This audit helps identify how far your organization has come as well as understand what may stand in the way of progress.
-
Ideation workshops offer a variety of hands-on exercises tailored to your organization’s unique situation. The group experience is strategically designed to test readiness for change and to help envision how quickly your organization can pivot.
-
A strategy for change is not always easy to deploy as it often challenges old habits. Brand evolution permeates throughout your entire organization and we work together as a team to cultivate opportunities as well as navigate challenges.
-
A strategic brand positioning clearly declares what sets your organization apart vis-à-vis the audiences you target and the competitors you face. Building consensus helps build enthusiasm and trust in the future.
-
Your brand identity is much more than the sum of a logo, a set of typefaces, and hex codes pleasing to the eye. It can be a living, breathing, flexible system that is both open enough to communicate across your varied audiences and focused enough to cultivate a united brand experience, full of intent.
-
Every organization has a voice. And every brand voice has a purpose: to distill your collective personality and ethos into a coherent expression that is accessible across many audiences.
-
Organizations deserve websites that strive to satisfy visitors’ needs and deliver a delightful experience—nailing both aspects yields superlative UX. Guided by accessibility and current best practices, we develop award-winning websites that balance simplicity and depth.
-
Compelling brands can only go so far without a proper deployment plan to put them to market. We architect strategic communication roadmaps across social, digital, print, experiential that achieve measurable results.
-
Brands are driven by people, and people are driven by principles. We coach individuals within your organization to speak their truths while simultaneously seeing themselves as brand advocates. This training builds up collective values unique to your brand, and empowers everyone to do their part in sustaining them.