Upstate Films

I used to live in the Hudson Valley, and I loved the vibe of this local indie cinema called Upstate Films.

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Every time I drove past their sign in downtown Rhinebeck, I'd catch myself exploring a tasteful design update  in my head. Eventually I stopped just thinking about it and sent them a concept pitch.

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To my surprise, they were receptive, and that turned into redoing not just the word mark, but building out a larger identity system and various assets.

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The Work

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The goal was never to throw out what people already loved. Upstate has decades of history and a sign locals love and recognize, so the job was to update it without making it feel new more of a natural next step than a reinvention. I kept the historic and legacy elements intact and let the rest evolve around them.

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From the wordmark, it grew into a larger design system. Including an expanded typography system, identity work for the individual theaters, and a set of web card system for their different programs so each strand of programming had its own consistent look.

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Upstate has expanded into a third and fourth location, the historic Orpheum Theatre, and Kingston's Midtown Theatre. Watching a client partner grow in real time is genuinely one of the more rewarding parts of the job.

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"This theater is sexy"

-Amanda Seifried

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There are occassionally surreal moments like Paul Rudd premiering his film Friendship and Amanda Seyfried screening The Testament of Ann Lee with live Q&A in front of the logo.

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Watching Upstate become a real platform for artists and filmmakers in the Hudson Valley, and to have played a small part in how it looks doing it.