A Historic Venue. A Modern Identity.
A Century of Cinema, Built for the Modern Era
The Minor Theatre in Arcata, California is one of the oldest continuously operating movie theaters in the United States — originally built in 1914 by the Minor family, and a genuine piece of Northern California cultural history. A venue with that kind of legacy deserves a presence that honors where it came from while making it easy for today's audiences to engage with it. Over the course of a ten-year relationship, Alkalyne has handled the Minor Theatre's web presence, graphic design, and even the packaging for an in-house branded chocolate collaboration — keeping every touchpoint as distinctive as the venue itself.
A Website That Didn't Do the Venue Justice
The previous Minor Theatre website was functional but forgettable — an outdated design that didn't reflect the character of the venue or make it easy for visitors to find showtimes, buy tickets, or book the space for a private event. For a theater with this much history, the digital experience needed to be worthy of the room.
A Site as Distinctive as the Theater Itself
We redesigned and rebuilt the Minor Theatre website from the ground up — creating a clean, character-driven experience that reflects the venue's personality while making it genuinely easy to use. Showtimes, ticketing, and private rental bookings are all handled through the site, giving the Minor Theatre two new revenue streams that work around the clock without any manual overhead.
On-Brand Across Every Format
Beyond the website, we've handled graphic design across a range of formats for the Minor Theatre — event flyers, in-house menus, promotional materials, and more. Every piece is designed to carry the same distinctive character as the venue itself, whether it's handed to a customer at the concession stand or posted around town.
A Chocolate Bar Worth Remembering
One of the more unique projects in our work with the Minor Theatre was designing the packaging for a line of branded chocolate bars — produced by Humboldt Chocolate and sold exclusively under the Minor Theatre name. The packaging needed to feel like a proper souvenir: something a moviegoer would pick up at the concession stand and actually want to hold onto. We designed something that felt at home in the theater without feeling like an afterthought.
Make it beautiful.
Then make it real.
Tell us what you’re making. We’ll tell you how we’d build it — brand, site, and the physical piece.