Silo is sensory.

Silo are a theatre company who, due to the circumstances of 2020, were unable to put on any live theatre. When approaching the 2021 season, they wanted to ensure they could offer a programme of shows that didn’t rely on being in a physical theatre space.

The ‘21 season consists of four emotively driven shows designed to engage all the senses, including a selection of ground-breaking performances using non-traditional theatre mediums. One show is solely experienced through sound in the comfort of your own home, another is experienced in a group setting which promotes audience participation, while another show will scare you to tears.

Our hero campaign image embodied the spirit of the 2021 season and created a moment of visual joy for viewers during a dark year for artists, theatre companies and theatre goers.

Referencing the sensory nature of the 2021 programme, we created a giant face emoji; created using oversized hand-crafted props which nod to the low-fi nature of theatre sets in a charming and inclusive way. We chose to have the actors hold the individual emojis to symbolise coming together following a socially distanced year, as well as emphasize the scale of the props, and create a playful sense of distorted scale.

The composition contains two eyes, one sad and one surprised. The large ear talks to MAURI TAU, Silo’s sound based show, and the yellow background was chosen to express joy and optimism for the upcoming year. The image can be deconstructed and individual elements can be used by themselves to speak to specific shows and themes within the season.

The image was a breath of fresh air within a very difficult year.