“Drama Theatre of Plovdiv” received a new identity from “punkt.studio” while preserving its connection to Bulgarian theater history. The theater was founded in 1881 and is considered the country’s first professional theater. It operates in Plovdiv, stages 3 productions, presents 8 premieres each season, and maintains more than 20 productions across different genres in its repertoire, from classics to contemporary drama.
For “punkt.studio,” the task was not to change the image for novelty’s sake, but to carefully update the mark. The work began with archives, conversations with the team, and a study of the previous style. The old mark was built around two griffins by the city gates. The idea of protection, the city, and the stage was strong, but the mark was overloaded with details and worked poorly at small sizes.
In the new version, one Griffin remained. It became the theater’s main symbol, preserving its connection to the city, the stage, and the institution’s status. The figure was rendered in a compact form, making it easier to use on posters, tickets, wayfinding materials, the website, and social media. A hint of a theater curtain was kept in the griffin’s wing.
The new logo moved away from the heavy heraldic look of the previous version. The griffin no longer looks like a complex state emblem. Still, it is perceived as a cultural emblem with a theatrical connection. It preserves the memory of the old image while better aligning with a repertory theater serving diverse audiences and communication formats.
A custom typeface called “Drama” was created for the project. It was developed by Pavel Pavlov of “FOMO type.” The typeface combines Roman capitals, low contrast, flared serifs, and a contemporary logic for lowercase letters. With it, the theater’s long name receives a strict cultural tone.
The identity of “Drama Theatre of Plovdiv” became more restrained and coherent. The new mark presents the theater as an old Plovdiv institution that has preserved its historical weight and received a clearer image for today’s stage.
