Betty Nansen Teatret has been part of Copenhagen’s cultural landscape for more than a century. With a new leadership and a renewed ambition to create critical, contemporary theatre, the house was ready for an identity that could reflect a more uncompromising point of view.

The challenge was to create an identity that could hold both sides of Betty Nansen: its deep institutional roots and its desire to challenge the present. Something with the weight of an established cultural institution, but with enough friction to feel alive.

At the centre of the identity is a new symbol inspired by the lyre found in the theatre’s architecture. Rather than simply redesigning the logo, we created a symbol that could stand on its own as a recognisable marker for the house and a central axis for the entire visual system.

The identity is built around the contrast between elegance and aggression. 

The colour palette is deliberately restless. Combinations are designed to vibrate, clash and create visual tension rather than simply harmonise.

The photography follows a different approach. Where the theatre previously used imagery primarily to document the stage, we chose to work consistently with black-and-white photography with an art-photographic character. The images are more interpretive, focusing on atmosphere, emotion and composition rather than showing the entire world of a production.