Reelarc
Identity, Art Direction, Website,
Program materials, Full Brand Build Out
Reel Footage for All Actors
Reelarc is an upstart bi-coastal business on a meteoric rise, driven by a core belief that all actors deserve a chance to step into their light and put their best foot forward in the search for work, auditions, and career traction. Reelarc helps aspiring actors develop their own acting reels by writing, directing, and producing personalized scenes to spotlight their unique talents. Throughout the Reelarc process, actors not only receive on-set experience, but original footage that they can own and use to further their careers.
Reelarc contacted us at a moment of brand opportunity: They, just like their community clientele, were growing fast but needed a way to stand out from competitive businesses and communicate that they were the best reel-production service in the biz. They needed a full brand refresh and to establish an exciting new presence in the market.
Brand Strategy
Reelarc’s founders, Steven & Guy, knew they needed to differentiate if they wanted their business to grow, but couldn’t leave the brand equity they’d already accrued behind in the process. They needed to better communicate to their current and future clients that they were the most authoritative service in the business, the most accessible and diverse, the most authentic with their years of industry experience, and the most proven in client success.
We started by defining the brand’s personality, the brand’s true purpose, perspective, and potential, and the a new brand language around how to talk about it all. This resulted in a brand positioning for Reelarc that was authentic to their product, service, value, and community.
The business itself was evolving, too. Reelarc redefined the reel-building journey they took clients on from beginning to end — from just starting an acting career to being equipped with everything an actor needs to land jobs. Reelarc integrated authoritative guidance into every step of the way, which of course, needed the new Reelarc brand touch.
From a full website to pitch their services and gather leads, to full onboarding materials for new actors, to resources that illuminated the journey through the Reelarc experience, to templates and design support for all actors graduating from the program, we built a design system to empower Reelarc’s growth and success for years to come.
Identity
Wordmark
The Wordmark is Reelarc’s flagship indentifying mark. With such an interesting name, it was important to get it out front and begin to associate the name with the company’s service and proven success for actors of all stripes. A clean typographic approach felt the most reassuring and contemporary for where the brand wanted to go.
Logo Symbol
Pairing with the wordmark, a logo symbol was essential to the brand’s “insider vs. outsider” shorthand. The symbol is not only a visual representation of the name Reel + arc, but a showing of the brand’s core invitation that everyone is welcome inside the tent where they’re free to discover, write, and show their own story arcs.
Color
We knew from the outset that color was going to be a key differentiator for Reelarc competing in a sea of stage and film production companies that rely on black and white platforms. We took inspiration from the stage technique of luminous hi-vis tape guiding actors towards hitting their right marks. This reinforced the brand’s concept of guiding careers and making sure all actors could find their right light.
Art Direction
Copywriting
The Reelarc brand came to rely not only on visual brand elements, but on its own branded style of communication and language. We developed a copywriting suite, along with a full tone-of-voice deck, that Reelarc could use in promotional and actor-journey materials. We had fun with this one, and it brought a new angle and energy to the brand expression that Reelarc has absolutely embraced.
Photography
Reelarc had a strong sense of its photographic voice, developed in house over years of experience working with actors. We explored their approach further and developed a photographic strategy around the concept of behind-the-scenes. Reelarc is the behind the scenes partner literally behind the scenes written and filmed for actors’ reels. This made so much sense, and placed real Reelarc clients at the center of the brand and business’ focus.
“The Headshot”
With social media being the main platform for exposure for actors, we focused on interpreting the traditional actor’s “headshot” for the digital age. This turned into a great testimonial format for Reelarc, but also a fantastic exhibition style for Reelarc’s clients to bring to auditions and jobs.
Colorful Campaign Imagery
We developed a formula for showing off how Reelarc approaches the production of actor reels while reinforcing the behind-the-scenes photography approach. Taking the bright production-inspired color palette and translating it into multicolored lighting defined an in-house style for campaign imagery.
Photography by Jakob Owens
Reelarc CoStar
In addition to Reelarc’s service for making reels for acting clients, they offer a path towards more acting experience with Reelarc CoStar — a community of actors that can appear in scenes opposite core reel clients. The CoStar program needed a sense of identity within the Reelarc brand umbrella, and we were happy to oblige.
Application
Website
The website is Reelarc’s core funnel point. We designed a full one-page site for Reelarc that met the company’s sales, storytelling, and lead-generation needs.
Social Media
With a strong presence on social media, Reelarc needed a way to show off the success stories of its clients, as well as pitch its own stories and services. We developed templates for a dozen different post requirements that help Reelarc sustainably maintain brand voice.
The Reelarc Playbook
The Reelarc Playbook is a full booklet/mobile experience given to new clients ready to take on the Reelarc experience of making their own reel. It illuminates the process and includes tips, tricks, and guidance that actors can’t get anywhere else. This became our favorite part of the Reelarc project, and a powerful brand tool for Reelarc.
A massive thank you goes to Reelarc founders Steven & Guy for being such adventurous collaborators and energetic leaders. The Reelarc service is a valuable resource for aspiring actors, and we are so thrilled to be able to give new voice and visual to their brand. Visit the Reelarc site to learn more about their innovative business, and witness their impact on Instagram.
