The Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America (IDTANA) is the governing body for Irish dance teachers in North America, representing three countries, seven regions, and over 1,000 dance teachers, and the North American branch of An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) – the largest, oldest, and most elite Irish dance organization worldwide. Recovering from the devastating effects of COVID on competitive Irish dance, IDTANA needed a complete brand overhaul including a new logo, colors, and fonts, along with a mission statement and brand strategy to reflect its commitment balancing its proud commitment to Irish tradition with modernization, and progress, and to welcome new dancers of all backgrounds into the world of Irish dance.

Effortlessly straddling the line between sport and art, Irish dance is a modern, innovative, and welcoming activity with a strong community surrounding it and a lifetime of opportunity to offer. Speaking to both potential dancers and current ones, we communicated these values through bold, bright, and dynamic design inspired by modern athletic imagery, the principles of diversity, the art form’s proud cultural roots, and the steps of Irish dance itself. The resulting brand suite is sleek, colorful, and forward-thinking – clearly communicating the art form behind it while inviting potential dancers to explore the infinite possibilities ahead.

Inspired by the fluid motions of a ceili dance, the logo uses emblematic Irish dancing imagery to create a unique and modern symbol that embodies inclusion, continuity, and welcoming. The three loops represent the three countries of IDTANA and are shaped like location markers, further solidifying the geographical connection. Open ends symbolize welcoming and continuity, and the inclusion of three pieces in a figure set up for four invites the viewer to join in the dance and complete the figure. This shape lightly alludes to Celtic knotwork while being modern and distinctive, embodying the literal motion of dance and the forward-thinking attitude of IDTANA and Irish dance today.

IDTANA’s new core color scheme is drawn from the flags of its three member countries. All three flags feature red and white, with only Mexico’s containing green, only the United States’ containing blue, and Canada flying red as its main color. The resulting color scheme, as reflected in the logo, highlights all three countries, with green for Mexico, blue for the United States, and red for Canada. In addition to celebrating the three member countries, these colors also represent the RGB color model, through which all red, green, and blue light can be combined to create the full-color spectrum. These colors celebrate the infinite spectrum of Irish dancers and highlight IDTANA’s commitment to welcoming and inclusion. The secondary color scheme supports this commitment, filling out the spectrum to add depth and vibrance.

— Why Irish Dance? IDTANA.org

Bold, stylized headlines are balanced by soft italic subheads and neutral, modern, easy-to-read sans-serif body copy. Together the look is modern, sleek, and broadly accessible, balancing athleticness and art in the spirit of the sport it represents.

IDTANA’s slogan needed to reflect its position as both North America’s Irish dance leader and the primary resource for potential and current Irish dancers in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The resulting slogan is a guiding light for IDTANA leadership and a commitment to its dancers, to uphold and promote Irish dancing in North America while providing the tools for its continued growth and evolution.

An evolved version of the logo, with three intertwining strands, this subtle overlay adds depth and texture to IDTANA-branded materials, maintaining subtle branding through otherwise flat backgrounds.

To support our brand design, we teamed up with iconic Irish dance photographer Silpa Sadhujan to develop an extensive photo library to show off Irish dance itself. Beginning with an extensive nationwide model search, we held a photoshoot over two days in New York City featuring diverse dancers from three Irish dancing regions of all ages and levels. We worked with both Silpa and our models to ensure that the final photos showcased not just the immense talent of our dancers but also the rich colors of our new branding and the values of IDTANA as an organization.

To ensure we highlighted dancers from as many regions as possible, we also held a nation-wide content search to source beautiful dance photography from around the country. All photos across the website are integrated with the IDTANA logo, to showcase the ways in which Irish dance enhances and supports our dancers’ journey through life.