The Toronto International Film Festival has decided it’s time for a new look. At a press conference held yesterday, TIFF unveiled its new logo and brand, which will represent all of the group’s operations throughout the year.
The new logo is a simple lowercase “tiff” in a soft, round font and a subdued orange colour. In previous years, the festival’s lengthy name was used in the logo. The new logo will also be used in communication materials for the festival group’s sub-brands, like Cinematheque Ontario and Sprockets, a film festival for children.
TIFF director and CEO Piers Handling explained, “One of the challenges we have faced as an organization over the past few years is being able to tie everything together, all of the things we do year round.
“We determined the best way to tackle this was to create a monster brand for the organization,” Handling said. “The new brand builds on the strength of the name tourists and locals are most familiar with, TIFF. Creating the TIFF monster brand will create a better understanding of all of our initiatives tied together to create one story, one voice and one identity.”
TIFF also used the press conference to reveal the first print ads from this year’s campaign, which launches Friday. Ads will run in a variety of newspapers, including the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, as well as in alternative weeklies and community papers.
The ads, which were created by Toronto-based designer Barr Gilmore, feature images of Torontonians in movie theatre seats and the tag line “Connecting to your world.” Instead of using models or actors, TIFF decided to use city residents in the ads to convey how average consumers have become important taste-makers, said TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey.
“Notions of taste and of the value of cinema have been democratized by the audience; the audience tells us what they think are the best films of the year,” Bailey said. “With this in mind, 2009’s creative campaign is a nod to the audiences of Toronto and to how film connects us all through a shared experience.”
When asked how TIFF has dealt with the economic downturn, Handling said sponsorship has not been tracking as high as it had in previous years, and as a result this year’s budget had to be adjusted because of the lack of funding. “We had to make some very, very hard decisions to present the same festival you’re all used to. We had to look internally and make some cuts, as I think every arts organization has [done],” he said. When pressed for details on the internal cuts, Handling said contracts were re-negotiated and seasonal contracts were started later in the year, among other cuts.
“We literally looked at every single part of the organization,” Handling said. “This was a considerable challenge for us, but I don’t think the audience will in any way be aware,” he said. “It will be exactly the same festival. We will have the same excitement, energy and guests attending the festival.”
Handling said TIFF received the usual number of entries this year, despite the economy, but added the festival may not see the real effect of the downturn on the film industry until next season. “That’s the sense we got from travelling and talking to people in the industry. All the production that we’re seeing this year was put into production prior to this economic downturn, so we’re seeing as many films as ever.”
TIFF runs Sept. 10-19.
