Identity for the Indiana Roof Ballroom by Grant Glas:
The Indiana Roof Ballroom accommodates many different types of events ranging in size from two to 2,000 people. It was originally designed and built in 1927 for live music and dancing, and has hosted big-band greats, presidents and celebrities. Following a total restoration, the “Roof” has returned to its original grandeur and status as the premier special event venue in Indianapolis. It hosts nearly 250 events a year, including trade shows, auctions, fashion shows, receptions, dinners, product demonstrations, corporate affairs, concerts, and ballroom dancing. Its state of the art light and sound systems and reputation for excellent food and beverage service have returned it to the best venue in the city, recently housing the Colts’ Super Bowl Ring Party.
With potentially one of the best facilities in the country the Indiana Roof Ballroom (IRB) needed to reflect that premier brand image online. Their old web site, while respectively adequate, did not impress on visitors the true grandeur of the IRB. Grant Glas Design partnered with the IRB and was asked to develop a web site to serve as an informational resource about the facility, allowing the public to gain a truly breathtaking perspective of the IRB. Grant Glas Design evolved the identity system that we named “Be Part of History” and used this to guide design work.
The new web site was based on extensive research and statistics to provide the IRB with the best possible product. Each technical element of the site is based on data collected from Google Analytics recorded by Encore Catering’s web site (Also design by Grant Glas). Decorative photos are the focus of the site’s content, and these images are also an important part of the identity. The photos are treated in a consistent manner, flash movement embedded or silhouetted against a white background, making them iconic.
Grant Glas Design’s new identity for IRB exists as a sophisticated kit of parts for a broad base of applications, from print to signage to web site, where the identity’s graphic elements become a dynamic interface. The new identity makes IRB’s long name manageable by breaking it up and stacking it or keeping it on one line. The graphics are elegant, modern and exhibit a neoclassicism influence that is especially appropriate for the facility. The typography appears in the font Trajan Pro. Grant Glas Design then used these element when creating the IRB's business cards, letterhead, advertisments and other marketing material such as trifolds and outdoor signage.
Pictured above are advertisements for Indianapolis Monthly, the Indianapolis Business Journal and The IRB Big Band postcard. Both ads and the postcard utilize the new "Be Part of History" identity system.
Pictured above outdoor signage for the facade of the Indiana Repertory Theatre.