Michelle Robb On How She Created the Wicked Pig Brand
Michelle Robb, the designer behind the Wicked Pig brand, takes us behind the scenes of the company’s creation, from the story that inspired its name to the thinking behind its distinctive visual identity. A fan of all things Fringe theatre, Michelle is also Rhys’ partner and frequent creative collaborator, making her the perfect person to bring the Wicked Pig brand to life.
It started with the name
We wanted something fun, but with added meaning for those in the know. The idea came from a version of The Three Little Pigs that Rhys’ dad wrote when he was a child. In this version, the final pig boils the Big Bad Wolf alive and eats him.
That wicked little twist stayed with Rhys, eventually becoming a key thread in his first solo show, A Very Difficult Person. It felt right for the name of the production company to nod to this key moment in Rhys’ theatre journey.
Wicked Pig was born.
It’s also a pretty good description of what Rhys is interested in: taking stories, theatrical forms and ideas we know, and giving them a twist of our own.
We landed on some core brand values: hands-on, agile, cheeky and a little bit disruptive. We rolled this out into The Wicked Way manifesto. Wicked Pig is a small production company with big ideas, working with emerging performers and finding unexpected ways to tell a story.
So naturally, the branding needed to punch above its weight and stand out too.
There was plenty to play with. Fairytales. Fables. Victorian theatre. Villains. Magic. And, of course, a wicked pig.
Creating the Wicked Pig visual identity
I wanted the identity to feel theatrical without looking like a traditional theatre company. Something with a bit of mischief and character, but still flexible enough to work across lots of different stories and shows.
The pig became the unlikely star of the show, bringing a bit of chaos, humour and personality to the brand.
And importantly, Wicked Pig doesn’t need to be the hero of every story. The brand is there to give the performers and their stories the spotlight.
The result? A bold, characterful visual identity that can shift and adapt from show to show, while still feeling unmistakably Wicked Pig.
A bit theatrical. A bit weird. A bit wicked.
Designing for theatre and emerging performers
I believe strong design and visual language go hand in hand with brilliant shows. Whether it’s a play, magic show, comedy or clown show, the performances that have stuck with me from the Edinburgh Fringe have often had such strong visual identities.
Set design, posters, photography and cohesive marketing collateral can all work together to create a world around a show and help an audience understand what makes it special.
That was something I wanted to bring into the Wicked Pig brand too: a visual identity that could support the work without overshadowing it.
I had so much fun working on the Wicked Pig branding, and I’m excited to support emerging performers in showcasing their shows with bold, attention-grabbing design.