Virtue of Reality: An Immersive Experience, Pt. 2
For Pt. 1, click here!
And to see the Virtue of Reality project page, read here!
It was a crazy feeling coming off of the whirlwind that was Virtue of Reality. I knew it would be intense, but the feeling of looking into the empty gym space after strike was overwhelming: excited, exhausted, astonished at how quickly the show weekend had come and gone, and proud. As far as I could tell, we pulled off an impossible feat. Things went wrong, of course, and we were forced to pivot and make changes - but like they say, the show went on! And as far as I can tell, people liked it!
It’s safe to say that creating and putting on this immersive theatre experience was an incredibly unique experience and I feel that I’ve learned so much - especially as someone without a theatrical background. What I wasn’t surprised about, however, was how my branding and marketing background would be very useful in the creation of the show.
As with many of my MFA colleagues, we all wore many hats and had lots of roles throughout the production of Virtue of Reality (VoR). Officially, I assumed the Project Manager position, but in addition to scheduling and allocating I spent lots of time ideating, concepting, writing, designing, planning, and helped in directing, assembling, building… I even acted a little and had a character role in the show (paging Dr. Francis Finnz). It was a truly collaborative effort…. but something that I ended up spending lots of time with was branding and graphic design.
An informational brochure that I wrote and designed. The trifold is chalk full of brand literature about VeraRev, their mission, their goals, and their technology.
Who is VeraRev and why does branding matter?
As guests arrived to VoR, the story began in a clinical looking waiting room where up to six audience members were filtered in at a time and asked to take a seat. The walls were painted stark white and were decorated with a couple of VeraRev branded promotional posters, hinting at technological advancements and excitement of the future. This was the first touch point of VeraRev - a main character of the show.
VeraRev is a massive multi-faceted conglomerate company that grew from small and humble beginnings faster and larger than anyone could have guessed. As a giant tech leader, VeraRev has developed solutions for the future and is excited to gain stakeholder support to move forward. Our audience found themselves in the waiting room as stakeholders of VeraRev. They are the ones who needed to be convinced that VeraRev is trustworthy, reliable, and worthy of continued support.
For successful and convincing place setting and world-building, branding became a huge necessity. We needed to create a facade of a real company to sustain the suspension of disbelief for our audience. It was this level of detail that contributed to the positive feedback we received from guests.
I started by creating a logo for VeraRev (which is a palindrome!). We developed the name of the company by using “V” and “R” (a running theme through the show) and words with latin roots meaning things such as true, real, and forward movement. The logo has a bit of a retro ‘80s feel with the outlined rounded font and the colors. I think this adds a little playfulness and is also a nod to science fiction stories that inspired us throughout the process.
With the logo complete I then created brand literature by crafting and refining VeraRev’s voice and wrote the company’s mission:
Help people to rekindle their lust for life by connecting economies and committing to a bright future for all.
The VeraRev voice is friendly but authoritative, detailed but vague. These contradictions were important to me in representing the character and the role that VeraRev played in the story.
Lastly, it was important that the brand messaging through all channels was consistent and repetitive. Audience members only sat in the waiting room for a couple of minutes, but with the posters, the receptionist, the videos, and the intake form - the VeraRev message was clear, and the show was off to a strong beginning!
The pre-show video below welcomed guests to VeraRev. This video repeatedly played in the waiting room as guests filled out their intake forms and waited to be processed further into the experience. I scripted the video as another VeraRev touch point for guests to hear and understand as a character of the experience.
