We connect art & audience

Outdoor theater performance at dusk with an audience seated in a semicircular arrangement. The stage features a multi-level set, with mountains and a colorful sky in the background.
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, 2022. Photo by Jennifer M. Koskinen.
A smiling man with glasses, in a blue shirt and beige pants, sits on a dark gray sofa with one leg crossed over the other. He is holding a cup and appears to be laughing. Behind him are the sleek metal stairs with a yellow handrail crafted by Denver Design Studio.
About

Ligature is a design studio for community, arts & culture

We build brands, websites, and key art for civic arts centers, performing arts organizations, galleries & museums, and film & tv. Our approach is generous and wholehearted — we treat projects as partnerships, clients as people, and design as opportunities to strengthen a brand and its mission.

More about Ligature
A man dressed in a dark suit and a light-colored scarf holds a skull in his left hand while gazing at it intently. The background, reminiscent of a design studio, features blurred arch-like structures, giving the impression of a stage performance rooted in arts and culture.
Arian Moayed in Waterwell’s Hamlet (Off-Broadway, 2017); photo by Eric Michael Pearson
Key Artwork

We ain’t ’fraida no ghosts

From Hamlet to Don Giovanni, we love digging into Shakespeare, opera, and other scary genres, helping your ticket buyers connect to the material.

Our key art process
Bright pink background displaying three digital devices: a smartphone with a blue screen, a tablet showing a website with images, and a laptop featuring the text "Life is more colorful with SCFD." Two small plants are placed behind the devices, highlighting our branding as a premier design studio for arts & culture.
The SCFD website makes the internet more colorful!
Web design & Development

Click bait

We excel in building custom, mobile-responsive websites that bring your brand to life through a vibrant user interface and an intuitive & accessible user experience.

Our web process
Two performers are on stage. The person in the foreground, embodying Denver Design Studio's branding, wears a white dress shirt, bow tie, and waistcoat with a confident pose. Meanwhile, the person in the background is adorned in an elegant white dress. Both perform under theatrical lighting with red curtains behind them.
Norrell Moore and Jeremy Rill in The Headliners, Cherry Creek Theatre. Photo by Olga Lopez.
Branding

Express yourself

Our team will strengthen your existing brand expression through thoughtful discovery, creative design, and sharp execution.

Our branding process
A woman stands and writes on a whiteboard filled with sticky notes during a branding meeting at a design studio. Three people are seated at a table, two in wheelchairs. The atmosphere is collaborative, with the participants engaged in discussion and note-taking.
Brandstorm workshop with Phamaly Theatre Company.
Accessibility

Access for all

We approach every project with empathy for all audiences to design an equitable world with greater access to the arts.

Our accessibility process
Word on the street

Kind words make us blush

I have long been a fan of Ligature Creative.

It is a huge asset that they understand the nonprofit cultural community and creative economy and workforce.

A bold and colorful illustration of a bear with a blue background, perfect for branding by Denver Design Studio. The bear has a bright pink body, yellow face, and brown eyes with a playful expression. Its nose is black, and the design features simple, geometric shapes that reflect modern artistic influences.
Deborah Jordy
Executive Director, SCFD
So so so many thank-yous to you and the team.

You have been so wonderfully accommodating, patient, graceful, and solutions-oriented. I can’t thank you enough!

Brittany Laughlin
VP of Marketing, Dayton Performing Arts Alliance

We’ve done good work with