Before We Get Started...

Let's review your core values and have them top of mind as we dive into your brand visuals.

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH DANCE

Personal Growth and Creativity

We strive to ignite the inner spark yearning to be lit in every young dancer. We’re all about building confidence and resilience, helping each dancer discover their strengths and unleash their full potential.

We encourage self-expression and personal growth, tailoring our teaching to help each dancer shine both on and off the stage. We want our dancers to bring their own style and flavor to the floor.

Community and Belonging

Step into our studio and feel right at home! We’re a welcoming space where every dancer, from newbies to pros, feels valued and supported. Here, community is key, and everyone’s part of the family.

Passion and Excellence

We live and breathe dance! Our choreography is fresh, dynamic, and always evolving. We’re committed to pushing our dancers to new heights and achieving excellence together. We recognize that satisfaction in life comes not from the accomplishment, but from the journey toward the best version of ourself.

Resilience and Grit

Life has its ups and downs, and we teach our dancers to face them head-on. Through dance, we build resilient, determined individuals who bounce back stronger from any challenge.

Fun and Energy

Our classes are bursting with energy, drive, and a whole lot of fun, creating an environment where dancers are excited to learn and thrive. 

IGNITE THE SPARK

Dance is more than just movement- it’s a journey of self-discovery. We’re here to ignite the spark waiting inside every young dancer, blending high-energy fun, deep support, and a dedication to excellence. Our studio is a lively community buzzing with hip-hop beats, the grace of ballet, and the undulating groove of contemporary movement. We celebrate each child’s individuality, taking time to deeply know every dancer who walks through our doors, and encouraging them to work hard and bring their own style to the floor. We teach more than just dance. We build confidence, teamwork, and grit. Our dancers learn to navigate challenges with grace in a supportive, caring environment. We teach them to strive for excellence in everything they do. Our passionate teachers are more than just exceptional choreographers -- we are mentors, cheerleaders, and guides providing a safe and encouraging environment for kids to move, groove, and grow together. 

let's talk visuals

Behind Your Visuals

Honestly, I'm still recovering from the photos you sent over. I'm astonished by the tremendous depth of your offering. The ability to excite a four-year-old who is just starting their journey in the dance world AND ALSO an 18-year-old competitive dancer potentially going on to pursue dance in a professional setting is an incredibly challenging task. I can't imagine any two people more suited for it.

In other words, you have to create a studio and brand that appeals to these awesome dancers...

But it also has to appeal to dancers who want to do this:

and also this...

Appealing to these diverse groups of people, and also having their parents know it's the right spot for them is a tall task. But hell yeah, let's do it...

I keep coming back to one absolute truth: if the kids like coming to class, they're going to keep coming back. Yes, classes need to be engaging and fun, students need to feel like there is a sense of growth, the movement needs to be challenging enough but not TOO challenging. The kids want to feel seen, experience kindness, tough coaching when necessary, etc etc etc.

But as a father and someone who has worked with teens in the past, kids want A VIBE. They want to feel like where they're going has an energy to it, that it's where the cool kids are, and that maybe, just maybe, THEY are the cool kids. Even my five-year-old will decide whether or not she likes an ice cream based on the vibe of a place. Nail the vibe, and the rest of your job gets so much easier. Your students will be way more receptive to what you're putting down if the vibes are there. So let's talk vibe...

VIBE CHECK

On our calls, there was a video that lit you both up more than a college campus on 4/20 (I'm keeping this write-up SUPER profesh). Is the dancing in this video the greatest choreography ever? No. Greatest camera work? No. Costumes. They're great, not award winning. But damn if it isn't a VIBE. It feels like the most diverse group of cool kids ever coming together and feeling good in their bodies. Everyone feels unique and themselves, but still coming together to create a group dynamic that you just want to be a part of. The music video has this neo-funky trippy nostalgia thing going for it. The outfits are high-waisted pants from the 70s and 80s, big bold colorful patterns, throwback sneakers, headbands, sunglasses... The music has a distinctly disco funk vibe to it. The choreography could've been straight out of Saturday Night Fever if Jerome Robbins had his hands on Travolta. The color-grading of the video has a warm, almost sepia tone with film grain that makes digital media look cold and unapproachable. Let's just review for fun...

I mean c'mon... SUCH A VIBE.

Obviously, a vibe sells, as it literally appeared soon after in a Gap commercial:

I feel like I'm about to become Ol' Uncle Tim saying to all the kiddos out there "gather round, let Uncle Tim give you a little history lesson about what cool is." So forgive me, but Angel, let's talk about what Lauren and I grew up with. Gap was such a thing. I remember the days when if I didn't show up to school in whatever the Gap fleece tech vest was, I might as well have just died. In the 90s, Gap was it. It was top, the pinnacle of cool. Let's review what they were putting out there.

Anything look familiar? You don't need me to tell you that the 90s are in again. For years, Urban Outfitters has been selling FRIENDS t-shirts to kids who have no idea what the show is. Time is a flat circle, everything always comes around again.

As millenials, we had a pendulum swing away from the cluttered, chaotic, colorful, bubbly branding of our youth to very subdued, minimalist, colorless, soothing aesthetic. Here's a 1990s MTV Music Awards logo next to an 2010s MTV music awards logo.

From busy grunge to minimal cleanliness.

The kid who grew up in the bedroom on the left probably now sleeps in the bedroom on the right.

Gen Z is now rebelling against the millennial minimalism. Nostalgia has Gen Z captivated. They are buying OG Air Jordans, Tommy Hilfiger jeans, tube tops and JNCOs. I walked by a high school last week and thought I was looking at a dELiA's catalogue.

Here's a recent ad for Aerie, an American Eagle brand that is super popular with Gen Z -- 

Analogue vibe. Bright colors. Bubbly fonts. 

Here's what I'm getting toward -- we need to build a brand and vibe that creates an energetic epicenter for the studio that draws a younger generation in and speaks a language they understand. 

The danger here is if we push energy, colors, bubbliness too far, then we lose the grit, seriousness, hard-work, and honestly, inner self-work that is required to compete in the dance world. Yes, your brand needs grooviness, energy, and fun, especially for your recreational program (which will also have Barbie and Elsa and Unicorns), but we also need a brand that speaks to the competitive team and how dance is something to be taken seriously, that has a tradition of excellence. We need two brands in one that both lend to an overall total vibe. Let's make Cultivate Dance Project the place you want to be in the 253.

Before I break down each element, from logo to typography to color palette, let's take a look at how the whole system comes together and how it could show up in the wild.

cultivate dance project

In the Wild...

In the upcoming images you'll see what your brand would look like in the real world, from potential web layouts on both desktop and mobile, some schwag, and posters around town. Notice how your logo system adapts to various usages, how the C logomark can feel both minimal/high-end as well as have some playful 90s throwback vibes, how your colors can feel youthful for summer dance camps but also minimalist and high-end for performances and competition. Notice how your typography is modern and luxe, yet still has a 90s throwback vibe at times.

TYPOGRAPHY

Typography is the silent ambassador of every brand. Your type needs to be legible, first and foremost, and the choice of type needs to subtly communicate your tone, value, and ethos. The typography we've chosen for your new brand has the same diverse influences as your designs, and they come together in a cohesive, beautiful, and rad way.

Your main font in both your logo as well as your headlines is a bold, all-caps sans-serif font that has geometric precision. It feels buttoned-up and respectable, classic yet modern. It's highly legible which is a plus for both logos and headlines and when made 3D, feels straight out of another era without being hokey.

The 80s and 90s featured traditional serif fonts, tightly spaced, and elongated. Your secondary logo font evokes the 90s editorial look that appeared in all the ads in the glossy magazines throughout our childhoods. Check out the bold font in the Jordan ad, and then the classy font from both the Disney and PICWAY ads. See them reflected in the website mockup and t-shirts below...

COLOR PALETTE

Gone are the days of purely stark minimalism. Your colors bring the energy, while still leaving space for black and white classiness. Your two main colors, Indigo and Lemon Pop contrast beautifully and are super adaptable. Layer in some accents of Peachy Sunset and Electric Teal and you've got yourself some mighty fine eye-catching colors, sure to have my five-year old signing up for summer camp.

INDIGO

LEMON POP

peachy sunset

electric teal

noir de noir

soft white

quick glossary:

wordmark

logomark

logo system

A logo is the visual cornerstone of your brand, often the first point of contact with your audience. It's not just an identifier; it's a your brand's handshake. A logo needs to function across a broad array of platforms and contexts. It must hold its weight on both a billboard and a business card, command attention on a website banner and an Instagram icon, and resonate with audiences on print materials and digital screens alike. An adaptable logo system is a flexible suite of logos that can be tailored to fit different formats, scales, and use cases while maintaining brand consistency. This flexibility creates a consistent visual presence across every touchpoint strengthening the trust between client and brand. Think of your logo system as a dynamic visual language that can evolve with your brand, your audience, and the world around you.

Your main logo needs to say your name legibly, first and foremost. For your logo, the primary typography of "CULTIVATE DANCE PROJECT" should feel high-end feel and translate well to competition and performance posters. Your wordmark can also exist separately from your logomark. This is one of the reasons your logo system is so adaptable. 

Your logomark is where a lot of the play comes in. Your logomark should be simple enough to see just the outline at a distance and know what it is (ie Apple). It should be memorable, yet adaptable enough to appear both luxe, as well as playful. It should have movement to it and energy behind it. The C that makes up your logomark is swooshy and has an elegant movement to it when on its own. Yet the variation that ads the 3D block lettering has a nostalgic playfulness to it that harkens back to the MTV type logos from the 90s. When assembled together, your logo system checks all the boxes and doesn't look weird in black and white in an elegant setting, nor with color added for a Barbie based summer camp for five-year-olds. It's legible, recognizable, elegant, and really dang fun.

PRIMARY LOGO

wordmark

LOGOMARK

logomark variations

wordmark - left and right justified

FINAL THOUGHTS

YOU MAKE THE RULES

Tell people about what lights you up about your jobs. Let people come to you because of your deep empathy, professionalism, and being a friggin' blast to work with. Let the families know you care about their kids. Let the kids know that dance is a vehicle to become better humans and look really cool doing it. Let lives transform, confidence be found, and new horizons explored. Give your families something real --- a community centered around dance and making the world a better, more caring, more excellent place. Uplift and challenge them. Your business is YOUR party. What kind of party do you want to throw? Give the kids something to step into, tell them what they need, how they can get there, and how they can be useful in this world. Give them something beautiful, different, and aspirational. Make them feel like their life is the story they want to be living, and they’ll be yours for years to come. 

This new visual identity is soft when it needs to be, bright when it wants to be, and makes you look super legit as you have a coming out party for a more communicative, more excellent dance studio. It will show kids and families your deep commitment to making positive change. It provides a soft landing spot for your greater mission, without overshadowing it. Whether consciously or sub-consciously, your target client will notice the subtle cues that they are in for a professional, organized, artistic, thoughtful, and friggin' fun experience.

I love how it's come together.

Some questions to consider before providing feedback:

- Does this visual identity as a whole speak to what you want to bring to the table as business owners and teachers?
- Is there a vibe that's missing or anything superfluous/too heavy handed?
 - Think less about your own personal preferences. Do you think this visual identity will resonate and attract your target clients, from your recreation kiddos to your competition team?
 - Are there any visuals here that feel misaligned?
 - Is there anything we’ve left out that needs to be included?

Thank you for the opportunity to bring this next iteration of your biz to life! We can’t wait to see where this new brand and vision take you. Whenever you're ready, feel free to reply to this email or set up a call with me to discuss. There are no wrong answers. We're gonna get you a brand you love and are proud of.