The brief.
When AFI Silverdocs left Washington, Sky Sitney, who had directed it, and Jamie Shor founded DC/DOX to take its place: a documentary festival in the capital, timed to the city that has more journalists, advocates and policymakers in its audience than any other. It screens premieres across four days each June.
The festival had one year to look like an institution the city already trusted. It asked for an identity that could carry a program of premieres, the official poster, a Metro campaign, the passes and the site before the first screening, and could be cut again for every festival after. We delivered the identity and the design system in 2022, the site and the first campaign for the 2023 festival, and have extended them each year since.
Identity
Showcasing powerful, timely stories in the nation's capital, DC/DOX Festival brings together innovative visions, bold voices, and truth seekers in celebration of documentary cinema.
DC/DOX sets out to prove that film festivals still matter.
When documentary mainstay AFI Silverdocs decided to exit DC, festival alumnus Sky Sitney and Jamie Shor did not take it easy. They took it over.
The goal was to create an influential, classic, and long-lasting brand identity to set the tone for a new, visionary era of documentary film in DC.
Campaign
The 2023 festival.
The first campaign ran the identity everywhere the festival touched the city: the official poster, the Metro placements, the Instagram row and the stories for opening and closing night, the passes, the catalog, the screens in the theater, and the badges.
Cut from the full case study at wrkhrs.co/work/dc-dox-film-festival
