The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, or The Hop, opened in 1962, during a time of significant social change in the United States. It entered a boys-only campus dominated by business and engineering, and was launched as a home – on the college Green – where expression was allowed, even encouraged.

Today, the Hop celebrates art as central to life but in a space much different than before as renovations and a new wing designed by architecture firm, Snøhetta, have just been completed.

In preparation for the opening of The Hop, Champions was tasked with building a brand system that could help tell the story of The Hop as an artery to the Arts at Dartmouth and could help amplify works created at The Hop to reach beyond the confines of Hanover.

Rendering by Snøhetta

Archival imagery from Rauner Special Collections Library

In 2018, Champions worked with Dartmouth College leadership to update the brand. In 2024, we were selected through a competitive bid process to return to campus and help rebrand the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

Our task was to work within the guidelines we built for the College and to define the role that Centers would play on campus and within the brand. The system specified letter for the school and type treatments for Academic Programs and Departments. The Centers need to find their voice. We explored several directions until, ultimately, they were born from the college lettering.

The Hopkins Center for the Arts has been known as The Hop since opening day in 1962. Enshrining the familiar name in the branding was a natural step for a place the housed the student mailboxes and had the XXX room on the second floor with the best view of the Green.

Promotional materials for every show are produced in-house by one fulltime graphic designer. On average, The Hop totals 400 promotional pieces a year. The new design system streamlines production by way of a suite of shapes inspired by both the original architecture and the new addition.

A possibly infinite number of configurations at every scale and proportion allow for the system to fit every promotional poster, presentation, and social media graphic. 

A challenge faced by cultural institutions from Carnegie Hall to The Hop is that they must work with art provided by the performers. A successful graphic system will flex with the assets provided.

The Hop frames can be used singularly, combined to form a new shape, or expanded and cropped to form a frame. They can hold type or image. And, when needed, they can serve as the image themselves.

With the rebrand in 2018, the College adopted National 2 because it was a great contrast to Dartmouth Ruzicka. 

National 2 includes historical references, like old style figures, but has a simplicity and clarity that is distinctly modern, which builds flexibility into the visual identity system. 

The Hop makes a lot of things and has a lot to say about them.  To find space for it all, we introduced National 2 Condensed Bold. The new cut of the font meets the functional needs of event promotion.

Over its history, The Hop has also given a strong role to calligraphic type. In this system, Dala Moa Bold allows them to hold on to a little flourish in their materials that is exclusive to The Hop.

The Hop places the performer above all else. They are a springboard for culture.

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Something something

As we continued research, we heard the Hop be described as an artery to campus–pumping life to its extremities. 

Inspired by Ruzika, a typeface designed by Rudolph Ruzicka for Dartmouth’s bicentennial, and integral element to the Dartmouth identity, the Hop mark is rooted in its heritage, exuding its connection to the school wherever it’s seen.