Copyright: Chili Gallei, 2003-2014
Since 1987 I work as an art director, stage designer and video artist in the competing area between art, culture and advertising for various theaters in Vienna, Austria and Germany In almost all of these theaters only the current play, the lead actor or the author is always advertised. Very rarely they try to find a "corporate design". Mostly rather half-hearted and then for just one saison. There is always a star, a big name who infiltrated an overall approach. In 2003 I was invited to pitch for a new graphic concept for the Rabenhof Theater in Vienna. I first rejected because the briefing was not very exciting and not open to new ideas. Which I also told them. 'If you ask what you always ask, you get what you always get.' A month later they came back again and ask me to present my ideas. I showed them a complete new branding concept: The theater is housed in a for Vienna historic building. The Rabenhof - http:// de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabenhof_(Wien) was one of the first social housing projects in Europe (built in 1927). Dedicated to the working class people of the city of Vienna by the Socialist Mayor of this period. So I radically reduced the color scheme to Red-Black-Gray-White. In an adaption of the star-concept I came up with the idea of a "keyvisual" to each production. This keyvisual is a portrait of the star(s) of the respective production in an unique and distinctive "Rabenhof" style. Each keyvisual is a singular masterpiece. Painted red-black-gray-white in a bold streetart graffiti style. So we do have the "big names" but due to the distinctive look and feel of the artwork each keyvisual also defines and strengthened the brand "Rabenhof". I design this keyvisuals (around 40 each year) before the season starts. So at the opening press conference every production has its keyvisual ready. The keyvisuals are used consistently and continuously online at the internet site www.rabenhoftheater.com, for advertisments in magazines and newspapers, for production posters, for all the production information, as press photos (https://picasaweb.google.com/108231516915571128462), outdoor as decoration of the theater front, indoor as a gallery, youtube videos, cinema trailers, books ... At the beginning it was not easy to convince the stars (and some people in the theater's administration) that their faces will not be shown as full colour photographs, but rather in a grunge graffiti’s look. But in the meantime some actors have one of their "chili" image already at home hanging on the wall. I have recently published a book with 200 of these star portraits ... www.blurb.com/books/ 4407053-portraits-2003-2013 At the theater, we work exclusively and consistently with this look and feel. Even outside of Vienna this Rabenhof branding is now recognized and in newspaper reviews already referred "legendary".
Communicator of the Year 2010. (honoured by the Austian Public Relation Association). It is not enough to only be at home in a world of pure communication. I want to understand what I'm being asked to communicate. Understanding is vital to create the best strategies and media for successful knowledge transfer. Valuable design seldom happens in a vacuum because, without context, it has no relevance to the consumer.
www.chiligallei.com chiligallei@me.com