StudioThinktank, Work
Cardboard Stage
Strategy, Creative Direction and Identity for the New York casting agency.
Cardboard Stage
[Agency of] Human Movement™
Brand Identity, Creative direction, Strategy [2025]
Cardboard Stage operates at the apex of New York’s dance landscape — the city’s premier casting agency for elite movement artists and performers. With deep connections to the New York City Ballet and the broader contemporary dance scene, the agency curates talent for brands, productions, and experiences that demand not just skill, but artistry.
Their work sits at the intersection of choreography, fashion, film, and culture.
StudioThinktank crafted an identity anchored in the notion of an “Agency of Human Movement” — a system that doesn’t simply represent dancers, but reflects the precision, fluidity, and expression that define them. The brand is intentionally restrained, allowing performance to dominate the frame while lending a quiet confidence to every touchpoint. The core icon becomes a study in distilled motion: a single, continuous gesture mapped from five defining points of a dancer’s form.
Minimal yet kinetic, it feels like a captured pulse — the lingering trace of movement after the body exits the frame. In motion, the icon transitions seamlessly into the Cardboard Stage logotype, functioning as both a signature and a piece of choreography in its own right. This gesture evolves into a dynamic masking system that shapes imagery, frames video, and guides composition across the brand’s visual world. It adapts effortlessly, shifting scale and proportion while maintaining a refined, cohesive language.
The result is a system that feels crafted, architectural, and alive — a visual echo of the performers it represents. The final identity positions Cardboard Stage not just as a casting agency, but as a creative force within New York’s cultural ecosystem — elevated, expressive, and unmistakably rooted in the art of human movement.
Team
Scott Mellor - Creative Director
StudioThinktank - Design and Identity
Ryan Walker - Motion Graphics
[Agency of] Human Movement™
Brand Identity, Creative direction, Strategy [2025]
Cardboard Stage operates at the apex of New York’s dance landscape — the city’s premier casting agency for elite movement artists and performers. With deep connections to the New York City Ballet and the broader contemporary dance scene, the agency curates talent for brands, productions, and experiences that demand not just skill, but artistry.
Their work sits at the intersection of choreography, fashion, film, and culture.
StudioThinktank crafted an identity anchored in the notion of an “Agency of Human Movement” — a system that doesn’t simply represent dancers, but reflects the precision, fluidity, and expression that define them. The brand is intentionally restrained, allowing performance to dominate the frame while lending a quiet confidence to every touchpoint. The core icon becomes a study in distilled motion: a single, continuous gesture mapped from five defining points of a dancer’s form.
Minimal yet kinetic, it feels like a captured pulse — the lingering trace of movement after the body exits the frame. In motion, the icon transitions seamlessly into the Cardboard Stage logotype, functioning as both a signature and a piece of choreography in its own right. This gesture evolves into a dynamic masking system that shapes imagery, frames video, and guides composition across the brand’s visual world. It adapts effortlessly, shifting scale and proportion while maintaining a refined, cohesive language.
The result is a system that feels crafted, architectural, and alive — a visual echo of the performers it represents. The final identity positions Cardboard Stage not just as a casting agency, but as a creative force within New York’s cultural ecosystem — elevated, expressive, and unmistakably rooted in the art of human movement.
Team
Scott Mellor - Creative Director
StudioThinktank - Design and Identity
Ryan Walker - Motion Graphics