Six Points Theater

After our Brand DNA audit, our gut was telling us the name itself, Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, was standing in the way of being welcoming to everyone and could be alienating to Non-Jewish theatre-goers and limiting the theater’s ability to grow and your reach to the broader community. So, in partnership with Julie Dalgleish, we took this idea to focus groups for a gut check.

We learned from key stakeholders and influencers of the theater that when they want to introduce someone new to the theater and say the theater’s name, you see the look in their eyes: ‘Why would I want to go there?’ If you don’t know the work, the name Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company can be confusing. We’ve had people say, ‘Is it religious?’

So we sought approval from the board, based on our findings, and made a strategic case of why the name needs to change and recommended the name Six Points Theater.

By changing the name, not only does it strategically align better with the mission of the theater to be more inclusive, but it also removes “Minnesota.” The use of “Minnesota” in the name is limiting, and not having Minnesota in the name will allow the brand to take on a more national/worldly presence.

We found that most theaters in our community are focused on exploring topics based on our differences, which opens up the opportunity for the Minnesota Jewish Theater to focus on the message of unity and the idea of uniting people through stories.

What does ‘Six Points’ mean? It’s a representation of the Star [of David] and connects to the theaters six core values integral to the work they do. The values are Integrity, Artistic Excellence, Trust, Innovation, Fiscal Responsibility, and Tikkun Olam, a concept in Judaism that means “repair the world.”

THE IDEA BEHIND THE SYMBOL
Borrowing from the imagery of a pinwheel, we create a sense of playfulness that one can expect from a theater. More importantly, we want to convey the idea of moving forward in a pioneering way. The six-block shapes move in a circular motion that visually represents the organization’s inclusiveness and the six core values creating a negative counter space of what we call the “Hidden Star [of David].” Which represents the seers of the seen and visually connects the single thought of the brand, “Revealing common threads of humanity.”