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Design agency True North has scored a major coup with its appointment to provide the brand for the £25m New Museum of Bristol. The team is also being charged with re-branding all of the existing attractions that come under the umbrella of Bristol’s Museums, Galleries and Archive Services.
The Manchester-based agency collected the task in the face of fierce nationwide competition, but was appointed without a pitch after meeting with the client and talking through the team’s experience in the arts and culture sector. They now face what MD Martin Carr describes as “a complicated, broad and thrilling brief”, to deliver a portfolio of solutions that it is hoped will change the perception of the Museum Service, and impact upon the very city itself. As he explained to How-Do: “The headline grabbing job is providing the visual identity and branding for the new museum (which is scheduled to open in 2010), but the entire task reaches far beyond that.” “The service is looking for a transformational re-brand, with a subsequent re-branding of the five other attractions under its auspices. Something that really is radically different to what’s in existence now. “There’s a lot of stakeholders involved with a job like this, as you can imagine, so they were looking for a team that could take them through the creative issues in a considered manner.  The interior of the new museum Carr pointed to the team’s track record with the Imperial War Museum North, the British Library and the National Portrait Gallery as evidence of their expertise in the sector. “This is a project that could have gone anywhere,” he added, speaking of the aforementioned national competition, “but it came to us as we can marry that logic and magic – because we understand how to create and re-position brands.” The new museum will be situated on Bristol’s harbour side, providing 2500 square metres of exhibition space over three floors, with a host of interactive exhibits and what promises to be a breathtaking rooftop gallery with views across the city. The project has received over £10m in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to bring the concept to life. Building work began in earnest this January. Carr would not be drawn on the agency’s plans for the new family of brands, noting that “it was early days” and his team were just beginning to “get stuck into the project.”
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