The brief

The UK City of Culture initiative aims to build similar success to that enjoyed by Liverpool during it's year as European City of Culture.

Iris was commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) to develop a brand design that would encompass UK culture. They were looking for an identity that could be used by the appointed cities across all forms of communications including on and off-line media.

Our solution

We developed a brand identity which incorporates two ‘C’s, one contained within the other, to symbolise the part that cultural excellence plays within a city. A key consideration in our designs was to provide something timeless, with the flexibility to allow participating cities to customise it to fit with their own activities during the year-long event. We have also created a set of brand guidelines to support its use.