Continuing SecondStage’s commitment to living American playwrights, the 2024 2ST Next Stage Festival was held at the Tony Kiser theatre, winter 2023-24. The festival formalises 2ST’s artistic pipeline by providing support at crucial moments in a new play’s development. This year’s Next Stage Festival featured one-night only readings of new works by D.A. Mindell, Sarah Mantell, Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin, and Ross Golan as well as the world premiere of The Apiary by Kate Douglas.

Alias Cactus is used for title type, a development of the original brand identity for Second Stage designed by 2x4.

See Cactus in use for Second Stage’s presentation of the plays Clyde’s and Take Me Out.

Source: www.behance.net 2x4inc. License: All Rights Reserved.

When 2x4inc redesigned the brand identity for the New York City Opera in 2008, they commissioned a custom all-caps typeface named Mortier. The retail version is available from Labor & Wait, now named Obbligato, and amended with a lowercase.

From the case study:

The people's opera: The founding principle of the New York City Opera. A touchstone for a brand strategy that links opera to contemporary culture; a design system that relaunched New York City Opera as a bold platform for creative expression. The provocative logo – a strong statement that sets NYC Opera off from its more staid neighbors – reinforces its mission in the face of adversity. By using contemporary artistic practices to examine enduring political and cultural issues, collaborations with artists such as Nikki S. Lee and Ryan McGinley provide new interpretations of historic themes at events designed to attract new audiences.

Source: www.behance.net 2x4inc. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.behance.net 2x4inc. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.behance.net 2x4inc. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.behance.net 2x4inc. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.behance.net 2x4inc. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.behance.net 2x4inc. License: All Rights Reserved.

Take Me Out is a Tony Award-winning (Best Play) show in which playwright Richard Greenberg celebrates the personal and professional intricacies of baseball, “America’s favorite pastime”.

Second Stage celebrated the play’s opening night with a video billboard in Times Square, New York. Alias Cactus is used throughout. The installation was designed by Zipline Media, in a system originally developed by 2x4.