London

Brand Identity, Outdoor Advertising, Signage, Vehicle Graphics

While famous for so many things, London lacks a unifying, cohesive identity under which all sectors can co-exist. The London identity seeks to bring together the previously branded elements of transport, tourism, government, the Olympics, and other public programmes.

“A Rectangle?” you’re probably saying. Yes, you’re right. But like many large-scale branding schemes, the strength of the logo itself only goes so far. But the logo is part of a greater system, and expands to fit the particular needs.

logos for various departments and services. Those entities with legacy logos will retain the iconic marque, but will largely be associated with colours. Additional departments and offerings can be extended with either new colour categories, or within an existing framework

The identity is hinged on an updated version of the classic British typeface Gill Sans. This new version, which I’m temporarily calling “Giww” has simplified some of the characters, especially those with curves. It exists now only as an upper-case font, but may be expanded as needs emerge.

The comparison to Gill is seen here, with new forms in Blue, and old ones in Red. Clearly, some characters have been retooled more than others.

Poster designs demonstrating the overall visual style — large photography with overlaid text. A white base offers the logo and allows the viewer to associate the appropriate colour and sector. Expressions are casual but intriguing.

example of livery design, in this case, for Transport. More associations with colour.

London loves to ruin classical architecture with posters and ads

examples of fashion week ads, using street photography rather than posed studio shots

Olympics branding on banners, buses, etc.

examples of ads aimed at locals, promoting Parks & Museums

above posters in the Tube.

examples of stationery, obviously using colour to separate departments and identity programmes

Tower Bridge photo courtesy of Jason Rodman »