Extending IMAX into live entertainment

Los Angeles, CA

IMAX

Extending IMAX into live entertainment

StrategyremoveBrand IdentityremoveBrand Experienceremove

IMAX has brought rare magnitude to cinema around the world. Through scale, precision, sound and immersion, it has turned cultural moments into larger-than-life experiences with a sense of arrival few entertainment formats can rival.

Its name has become shorthand for cinema at maximum intensity. A format that gives an event weight and ceremony. For filmmakers, artists and audiences, IMAX signals that something deserves to be experienced at scale, in a room filled with people who came to witness it together.

IMAX LIVE extended that role, reimagining the cinema as a stage for one-night-only cultural events. Part screen entertainment, part live performance, part global gathering.

The value of being there

In a culture shaped by infinite playback, instant access and endless choice, live entertainment has gained new force. Its value lies in what cannot be paused, replayed or repeated. IMAX had the scale, technology and cultural authority to own that feeling, but needed a brand system that could make the new proposition feel urgent, contemporary and distinct.

From cinema to cultural platform

My task was to help IMAX move from a masterbrand associated with traditional cinema into a more flexible and immersive cultural platform. IMAX Live needed to feel big enough for global artists, intimate enough for fans, and disciplined enough to hold together across concerts, talks, performances and one-off cultural moments.

A system for live presence

We built the brand around the value of live presence. The fleeting drama of being there as it happens. The identity was designed as a vessel for talent, giving artists room to shape the experience while keeping IMAX Live recognisable as a premium cultural platform.
The strategic move was to make the brand behave less like a fixed cinema format and more like a live arena with a powerful screen at its centre. Borrowing from cultural systems that let different artists inhabit a consistent frame, the identity could flex from Kanye West to the Royal Ballet without losing coherence.

The result was a sharper commercial story for IMAX Live. Scarce events, heightened fan demand and a more refreshed magnetic role for IMAX in culture.