Snøhetta Designs Website and Graphic Profile for Cinemateket
On behalf of the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI), Snøhetta has designed the new visual identity and website for Cinemateket, the Norwegian cinematheque.
The new identity is based on a concept of enlightenment, echoing Cinemateket's historic mission of making film history accessible to a wider public. Snøhetta helps fulfill this mission through the design of a multifunctional website and a unique graphic profile that pays tribute to the film industry, to its history and connotations.
Optimizing the User Experience
Together with Værsågod, Snøhetta has developed Cinemateket’s new website. The site functions dually as a ticket booking system and information portal. Whereas Værsågod has developed the booking system, Snøhetta has designed the interface user experience of the site. The site is kept dominantly black with white typography contrasting with the dark background.
The website offers a frictionless user experience and places great emphasis on high quality content. The primary role of the website’s design is to create an easily navigable and responsive site where visitors can delve into the filmic universe – be it to book upcoming screenings, to learn more about how 70 mm films are made, or to explore details of a specific director or film era.
By allowing for the curators of Cinemateket to easily share their knowledge of the film media through self-published micro-blogs, the website has an almost encyclopedic approach to film and film history. It is here Cinemateket’s enlightenment mission truly manifests itself – in the intersection between film, imagery, commentary and thorough storytelling.
A Tribute to the Film Industry
The new visual identity comprises a holistic tool kit consisting of a logo, typography, stationary templates and specially designed merchandise. In their own distinctive way, these elements are all a tribute to the film industry, to its history and connotations. For instance, the new logo is inspired by a crossing between the typography of and old-school typewriter, echoing the visual expression of the classic film manuscript, and the vertical letters of film theatre signage. Moreover, the typography is a tribute to how credits are visualized on contemporary film posters.
Cinemateket’s color palette is developed around a deep, red color. The colors are derived from the classic Red Green Blue (RGB) color model scheme, which is essential in the interpretation and representation of color in films. This intense red color leaves nothing to chance. It is just as much a nod to the red chairs and curtains of Cinemateket’s theatres as the red painted walls of its reception area.
Again echoing the RGB color model, complementary colors such as dark orange and purple are implemented into the color palette. The purple color is exclusively used in relation to Barnas Cinematek, Cinemateket’s specially curated film program for children.
