Design lead adam g. introduces some of the talented creators we’ve been showcasing across our 80th anniversary year.
Our society has had tremendous growth this year and it’s been wonderful to see. Given the state of media and tech these days, we could make a case that there’s a particular need for gathering and community, coming together each week to share in the joy of cinema. If the Wellington Film Society is “the medium”, in Marshall McLuhan’s parlance, then “the message” is our many collaborators who help make the experience so rich and exciting. Everything you’ve seen from us this year has been created by volunteer members of our film society, a true testament to the enriching power of collaboration and community.
For our membership cards this year we’ve collaborated with local motion graphics artist, Spencer Hall, to help us share a small keepsake with everyone to commemorate our 80th. You’ll notice the Embassy Theatre illustrated under the hand-lettering of Wellington Film Society, positioned in front of some subtle hills. The Embassy isn’t just our home, but also celebrated a 100 years milestone just last year. The oak-leaf ornamentation within the illustration and the card’s ruby colour are tributes to our 80th anniversary — oak as an 80th anniversary gift represents strength, endurance, and deep roots.
To help make our anniversary film festival such a special event this past June, we collaborated with local Wellington designer Greg Simpson on the design of a unique brochure with details about the weekend and some back story about our journey. Greg’s playful type and emphasis of “Playing the Part” is a perfect embodiment of both the spirit of the film festival, and our mission to share what we love as a community.
In July of this year we screened Victor Sjöström’s The Wind (1928), brought about by collaborators in both sight and sound. Musicians hara and Thomas Arbor accompanied the film with a haunting and melodic live score that blew us away. To help promote the event, we worked with Ruby Christoffel to make a series of posters and artwork to share across our social media and to hang up in the Embassy foyer. Ruby’s subtle and minimalist design mirrors some of the themes of solitude and isolation within the film itself. The very subtle off-kilter typography in the poster’s title is not only suggestive of the titular windy gusts, but gives us an uneasy feeling of what’s to come.
Each year we get to build excitement about our upcoming slate of films by distributing our brochures, designed by Rose Miller. This year features Spencer’s illustration as well as an image from our opening night film, Picnic at Hanging Rock. But building excitement is nothing without keeping it going week after week. Throughout the year we’d be lost without the contributions of our various committee members who help make our visual elements stylish and engaging. From beautiful trailers and social media posts put together by Barend Buchler, to pre-screening slides created by adam g.
If you’re feeling inspired by the designs you’ve seen this year and want to collaborate and contribute, we’d love to work with you! Email adam@wellingtonfilms.nz to say hi 😀 🎉
Happy 80 years!