brief set by: IMAX
sector: cinema
project duration: 14 weeks

A whole brand journey for
4 different IMAX experiences

A student entry for the D&AD Awards 2024

IMAX is a hella recognizable brand, providing magic movie experiences to global audiences for 54 years. Their goal is to reach as many customers as possible with their 4 incredible products and ensure that they are aware of their existence.

Visual Identity,

3D, Animation,

Sonic Identity,

Landing page

Challenge
The challenge was to develop a brand design system to distinguish new IMAX products and experiences as unique offerings while maintaining the overall tone of the IMAX brand and ensuring it resonated with a global audience.

Research
From my perspective as a student, reaching a global audience is far more complex than targeting a specific audience, and what does research on global audiences generally look like? Instead of focusing strongly on the audiences, I focused my energies on IMAX’s brand mission, slogans, and their previous animated idents (even the ones from the 80s!). Worth noting is that IMAX as a company didn’t undergo many visual changes, and most of their slogans and animated idents remained intact for years. Moreover, the brief specifically asked for adaptation of their existing branding.

Goal
All these 4 products have different features; e.g., IMAX Enhanced is watched from home, while the rest of the 3 products are cinema experiences. What unites them all is a common brand and the advanced technology used to create their immersiveness. My goal was to differentiate them visually while keeping their IMAX tone.

My approach

The 4 abstractly shaped products all resemble geometric shapes referring
to movie screens. The brand’s competitive advantage lies in its larger-than-average size cinema screens. The rectangle form appears frequently throughout the various IMAX sub-branding iterations. I set out to create a design that instantly evokes the IMAX brand, while clearly distinguishing
4 products, each offering a unique experience, through a consistent use of geometric shapes.

Design
Color is something we notice at first glance. When we squint our eyes, the shapes blur, but the color remains visible. Each of these products has its own distinct color, which makes each of these experiences immediately noticeable. For the product logos to be used in a variety of settings, I wanted them to be as simple as possible. My goal in including the IMAX logotype in each one was to ensure that customers could recognize it right away. Since it’s written in a bold, sans-serif font, I felt it would contrast nicely with product names written in Microgram Regular DB.

Inspirations
Color differentiation was a natural solution, and it’s not only the color or shape that makes the products distinguished. Branding is not only about visual appeal but also about spreading the feel, and we feel it not only with the sense of sight but also with hearing. Watching cinema idents of other movie productions brought me closer to the concept of sonic identity. Brands such as MUBI have made excellent use of sonic identity in their refreshed branding. By subtly using sound in their idents, they evoke feelings of melancholy, artistic expression, and curiosity which occur when watching independent cinema.

Conclusion
Designing for IMAX was an exciting challenge: creating distinct identities for 4 unique experiences while preserving the brand’s iconic style and global appeal. I used bold geometry, vibrant colors, and a custom sonic identity to highlight each experience's uniqueness while reinforcing IMAX's reputation for exceptional cinematic experience. This project demonstrates how thoughtful design can address complex branding challenges and create a cohesive, memorable experience.