Calgary Civic Symphony
The Client
The Calgary Civic Symphony has been performing live orchestra music in Calgary for almost fifty years. Begun as a venue for non-professional or retired musicians, the Civic Symphony has grown in both numbers and artistic excellence. These passionate and highly-skilled volunteer musicians have diverse backgrounds and day jobs, but are united by their desire to play and share exceptional music.
Each season, the Civic presents a series of five diverse concerts featuring not only classical works and seasonal favourites, but also music inspired by current events, pop music, films, and more.
Subtle visual transitions are used throughout the 24/25 Season – from dawn to dusk, from summer through fall, winter, and the following spring. Over the course of the season, local, symbolic birds take whimsical flight over their native habitats.
The watery landscapes for each concert transition through the seasons and daylight – from the season launch of dawn over Moraine Lake in summer, to fall colours and migrating Canada Geese as the sun rises over the Three Sisters mountains, through frosty mid-day winterscapes, late afternoon over a springtime wetland, and concluding the season with an early summer sunset over an Alberta lake.
- Strategy development
- Concept development
- Design development and execution
- Art Direction
- Art production
- Print management
- Digital deliverables
24-25 Season Brochure
The Season brochure is one of the only direct touchpoints for reaching out to the Civic’s audience. It is distributed at the final concert of the season and mailed to subscribers.
A common horizon line is shared across all concerts, with reflective water and expressive skies transitioning through the arc of daylight and the seasons of the performances. Symbolic birds are celebrated in their typical native habitats and represent the theme of each concert: three women composers, two bluejay divas, a Finnish swan, six redwinged blackbird pianists, four chickadee rising stars – and an orchestra flock of Canada Geese soaring over the entire season.
Concert Posters
Angled ‘feature bars’ are distinctively coloured for each concert, and interact with the horizon, reminiscent of an angled reflection in the water. These boldly coloured, gently fading bars highlight pertinent information about each concert and featured artists, and provide a consistent and recognizable visual language throughout the season. A bright coral orange is used as a contrasting throughline across all 24/25 season materials.
Digital Deliverables
Instagram posts, website banners and other online promotions are one of the low-cost ways the Civic keeps their audiences engaged.
2023-2024 Season
The Client
The Calgary Civic Symphony has been performing live orchestra music in Calgary for over forty years. Begun as a venue for non-professional or retired musicians, the Civic Symphony has grown in both numbers and artistic excellence. These passionate and highly-skilled volunteer musicians have diverse backgrounds and day jobs, but are united by their desire to play and share exceptional music.
Each season, the Civic presents a series of five diverse concerts featuring not only classical works and seasonal favourites, but also music inspired by current events, pop music, films, and more.
Throughout the season, dramatic black and white landscape photos partially transition into colour, breaking through an established horizontal margin.
- Strategy development
- Concept development
- Design development and execution
- Art Direction
- Art production
- Print management
- Digital deliverables
23-24 Season Brochure
The Season brochure is distributed at the final concert of the season. It is the first – and one of the only – touchpoints for reaching out to current subscribers and concert attendees.
Expressive skies and an intense coral-fuschia colour pulled from the cover photo come together to represent the overall 23/24 Season in the absence of a theme that bridges all concerts. It was designed in such a way that each concert is designated its own panel, and the brochure can be unfolded to display the entire season at once.
Concert Posters
Dramatic black and white landscape photos convey a sense of place related to each concert. An element of each photo is close-cropped and spills over the top margin, while a common “waterline margin” runs across all compositions, providing visual consistency when seen together.
Each concert’s feature colour is derived from the coloured aspect of its photo. Harmonious mid-value colours allow each concert to use text in both black and white for emphasis, and this palette transitions smoothly between the different concerts throughout the season.
Digital Deliverables
Instagram posts, website banners and other online promotions are one of the low-cost ways the Civic keeps their audiences engaged.
