Rocky Mountain Women’s Film

Bringing a wider vision into focus

What started as a small film festival started by two women in 1987 became a film organization with year-round programming and a mission to cultivate community and elevate women’s voices through film.

As a women founded-and-run organization, with the longest-running women’s film festival in North America, RMWF has a rich legacy of empowering women storytellers.

However, the organization recognized the need for a more relevant branding approach that captured their personality, values and quality of their events and programs.

RMWF approached FIXER to help them create a fresh and inclusive brand that resonates with their community and cultivates future supporters.

Services

⛛ Brand Strategy
⛛ Naming
⛛ Copywriting
⛛ Identity Design
⛛ Website Direction + Content Strategy
⛛ Event Design
⛛ Marketing + Print
⛛ Apparel Design
⛛ Brand Management Systems

Text on a purple background discussing a message of understanding, culture, and diversity, with abstract line art of faces and hair in peach and orange tones.

Through in-depth research and discovery sessions, we gained a deep understanding of RMWF's history, goals and value to the community.

This led us to an insight on RMWF’s brand positioning and name needing slight refinements versus an overhaul to be more relevant and compelling.

Our first stop on the rebrand path: dropping ”institute” from the name and crafting key messaging around their mission and values.

The logomark captures (pun intended) their role of viewing the world through a female lens. We wanted the classic camera lens shape, recognizable to their target community, but rendered from varied shapes and colors, much like the wide range of perspectives present in their film selections.

Comparison of logos for Rocky Mountain Women's Film Institute before and after redesign, showing a minimalist purple square icon and a circular abstract icon.

Shifting the tone of their primary brand color brought warmth to the brand, complimented by an expanded color palette — a modern take on jewel tones — that brings a little visual spark.

Color comparison chart showing Pantone 518 on the left and Pantone 5185 on the right, with an arrow pointing from the left to the right.
A pile of round tokens with a dark purple background, orange and yellow geometric shapes, and the text 'RM WF' in white.
A vertical banner with a purple background featuring names of donors for a women's film event. An open book displaying a woman wearing sunglasses, a colorful headwrap, and a white jacket, smiling outdoors. Business cards for Heather Carroll, Niki S., Sarina, and Emily U. show their roles as volunteers or members, with a consistent purple and yellow logo.
Stacked horizontal bars with different colors representing data categories in a bar chart.

Brand STRATEGY

A defined brand architecture brought consistency, structure and clarity to their brand communications. It connects key programming to an overarching vision, making it easier for new audiences to understand RMWF and transition from an event attendee to a longtime supporter.

Still photography from screened films are featured extensively in their communications, so we wanted to find a way to bring that personal, human element into their branding outside of a specific film.

The face illustrations showcase a wide range of ages, backgrounds and gender expressions of the RMWF community. Paired with abstract elements and textures, inspired by the grain in film, they add visual interest and coherence to the overall brand experience.

festival branding

The Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival is RMWF’s marquee event, attracting filmmakers and filmgoers from all over the world since 1987.

Our main goal in rebranding the signature festival was (to quote a classic film) to dial it up to eleven — the festival is a fun, energetic, delightful experience that needed a brand to match. The new logomark puts an exclamation point at the heart of the brand, along with punched up color and bold typography.

Comparison of logos for Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival before and after rebranding, with 'Before' logo on the left featuring a red mountain outline and stylized text, and 'After' logo on the right with gray text and 'WFF' in yellow and red.
A woman standing in front of an elevator with a large sign above that reads 'Elevate Women's Voices'. She is smiling, wearing a yellow coat, black pants, and yellow heels.
Three women wearing yellow WFF shirts smiling and sitting at a table with papers and materials, with a dark curtain backdrop.
A badge for the Women's Film Festival, November 15-17, 2019, with a lanyard decorated with colorful beads.
Audience seated in a theater watching a presentation on screen that reads 'Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival' with a photo of a smiling woman.
Poster for Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, November 15-17, 2019, depicting a woman smiling and gesturing with her hands. Two people are walking into a tent behind the poster.
Attendees mingling at the 2019 Women’s Film Festival in Minnetonka, with a large banner and dark curtains creating a lounge area.
Posters and a banner promoting the Women’s Film Festival, featuring images of smiling women and text about the event happening November 15-17, 2019, in Colorado Springs.
A collection of logos for Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, including titles such as Shorts Night, Filmmakers Retreat, Cinema in the Park, Film Club, and Rooftop Cinema with changes from previous to after images.

EVENT DeSIGN

Logomarks and illustrations were created for each core event, capturing the distinctive experience of watching film with others in different settings.

Assigning a signature color to each event boost the visibility and differentiate them from each other.

Two women sitting at a wooden table outdoors, reading books, with a cup of iced coffee, and a pamphlet titled 'Celebrating the Female Lens' on the table.
People watching an outdoor movie screening at night around a swimming pool, with a large screen displaying 'Rooftop Cinema' and string lights overhead.
A stage with a large screen displaying a poster for Rocky Mountain Women's Film Shorts Night. The stage is set with blue curtains, illuminated by small stage lights, and has a microphone stand and a piano. The audience is seated in front of the stage
Three posters on a pink wall, advertising Rocky Mountain Women's Film events. The left poster is blue, promoting Shorts Night on April 13. The middle poster is purple, promoting Film Club monthly screenings. The right poster is green, promoting an ou
People sitting on blankets and chairs watching an outdoor movie screening at night in a park surrounded by trees, with a large illuminated screen displaying 'Cinema in the Park'.
A parking lot with various cars, including an orange Toyota Prius, a black vintage car, and a Subaru SUV. A large screen on the building shows an advertisement for drive-in cinema, with the text 'Drive-In Cinema' and an image of cars and a person on
Diagram explaining text styles used in a presentation slide with titles and annotations.

RMWF continues to evolve their events and programs, so having a consistent wordmark structure accented with custom illustrations lets them grow with purpose and style.

 

FIXER collaborated with Design Rangers to bring the new branding to life in the digital realm. The website was redesigned with a vastly improved user experience, prioritizing an easy navigation across devices, showcasing storytelling with information, and boosting engagement with RMWF's programming and resources.

Screenshot of the Rocky Mountain Women's Film Institute website homepage, showing a pink-themed film event advertisement featuring an elderly woman in red. Other sections include featured library film and upcoming events.
A smartphone screen showing the Rocky Mountain Women's Film upcoming events page with a date filter set to October 2019. To the right, a webpage displays three types of festival passes: Full Festival Pass for $185, Weekender Pass for $115, and Flex Pass for $50, each with details of included films and activities.
An iPhone displaying the Rocky Mountain Women's Film website with a menu, and a webpage showing festival planning options, including how to fest, weekend events, and picking a pass, along with a section highlighting Madelyn's award-winning films.

BRAND MANAGEMENT

The RMWF Brand Book brought their narrative and visual brand together for their corps of staff and volunteers in a tangible way.

Longtime and new community members are introduced to RMWF through strong, vibrant visuals and language, enabling the organization to onboard its best brand ambassadors seamlessly.

A booklet titled 'Rocky Mountain Women's Film Brand Style Guide' dated September 2019 on a pink surface with abstract colorful shapes on the cover.
A blurred background of pink and purple bokeh lights with white text promoting a women's film support event, encouraging donations at donate365.org.
Two circular logos with the text 'Circle of Support' and 'Donate 365' around the borders, featuring a multicolored ring of abstract shapes. Two additional logos with the same text in different styles and sizes.
A letter and an envelope from Rocky Mountain Women's Film, showing the organization's logo and contact information, placed on a dark purple textured surface.
A circular badge with a black background and stylized camera shutter design in yellow, orange, and beige, with the letters "RM WF" in white in the center, placed on a pink surface.
An open magazine on a pink surface showing pages with text about celebrating the female lens and a graphic design with abstract shapes and typography.

Accompanying the brand book are usage guidelines, production documentation, brand toolkits, templates and files.

This comprehensive Brand Kit empowers RMWF to maintain consistent branding across all channels and get the best return on the investment in a rebrand.