REBRANDING A WELL-KNOWN COMPANY
The rebrand for AMC came from my love for movies and my worry for the death of the movie theatre industry. I wanted to try and hypothetically rebrand AMC with a focus on Gen Z and Millennials.
One thing that I had noticed is that many Gen Z'ers and Millennials are constantly consuming media that is from our childhood or beforehand. There is something comforting about watching media from a time in which we were not aware of tragic world events or everyday worries.
I wanted to rebrand AMC as a place for those who love nostalgia to come and bask in the ease of their childhood. To eat the snacks their parents never let them get, and watch the shows form when the most they had to worry about was what shoes to put on in the morning.
Pattern of screens utilized throughout the rebranded AMC identity.
ONE SCREEN, TWO SCREEN
When developing my brand identity, I knew I wanted to reflect the patterns of the early 2000s without making fun of it. This was meant to be a safe space rather than one that harps on people's preferences.
The pattern above took reference from early 2000s tunics that were originally inspired by 70s patterns. Created from screen ratios throughout history, this pattern would be a guiding force in the building of the new identity.
The first four logo renditions for the new AMC rebrand.
NEW LOGO, NEW AMC
To go with the screen ratio pattern, I wanted to give AMC a new logo that reflected the retro, nostalgic feel. The first gave a large highlight on the "movie" portion of the acronym, but it felt a little too close to the original AMC logo. The second one had a typeface that reflected the retro feel but did was not super readable. The third had a more playful feel with the diagonal letters, but did not give a mood of nostalgia. While the fourth, went a little too far out on terms of experimenting and did not feel welcoming with its sharp corners. Instead, it felt a little more luxurious.
The color palette for the new AMC rebrand.
From left to right: a light teal, a golden yellow, a dark teal, and an orange-red
AN EXPLANATION ON THE COLORS
For the color palette, I knew I wanted to use bright colors and leaned into the 70s inspiration with the color choices. The golden yellow and orange-red was taken from the 70s colors, but I added a bright teal as it was a very popular choice of color for the walls and prom dresses of teen girls during the early 2000s.
The two typefaces used throughout the rebrand.
TYPEFACES MATTER
I really wanted the typefaces to be rounded so that it immediately gave a friendly atmosphere to customers. Gothiks Round Bold was a great choice for display but because of how condensed it was, I knew it wasn't going to be viable for long body copy. Pairing it with Co Headline Arbc gave good contrast to the condensed characters of Gothiks while still reflecting its high x-height and rounded corners.
The menu of the new AMC concession stands.
GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
One of the most important ways that people connect to others is through food. The same can be said about different times. There is a reason why we love chicken noodle soup when we're sick, or why our grandma's baking just makes us feel. I wanted to bring that kind of comfort to the movies.
As such, classics such as popcorn and movie candy will be sold, but a large majority of the menu would be focused on all the discontinued food from the early 2000s.
Examples of tickets for the AMC rebrand.
NO NEW MOVIES
Another big characteristic of the AMC rebrand would be that no new movies would be shown. Instead, AMC would now focus on movies from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Although you can access many movies through streaming services, there are a lot of movies that are difficult to find, even though they were really instrumental in the childhood of many. AMC would focus on bringing those movies back to screens so new parents can introduce their children to the movies they used to love but also to revisit them with a community who also loved them.
From left to right, top to bottom: a 3D model of the theaters, the outside of the AMC theater, the ticket kiosks, and concessions stands.
WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE
The models above were created in SketchUp to replicate what a movie theater under the new AMC rebrand would look like. The retro screen ratio pattern would be used throughout the building, with its full-colored pattern higher up on the walls as to not make the eye-level portion too distracting. In the actual theaters, the pattern would be in grayscale so that it would not be competing with the movie itself.
Bean bags and floor pillows would be used to give it a more sleepover/homey feeling. And throughout the building, the color palette would be incorporated in everything from the ticket kiosks themselves to the placemats on the counters of the concessions stand.