The Royal Observatory Greenwich
The Royal Observatory (Home of Greenwich Mean Time — GMT)
The rebranding comes at a time of renewal and greatly increased profile for the site, for Greenwich and for the World Heritage Site as a whole. In 2012 , Greenwich Park will host the equestrian events for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. In addition, to tie in with Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Greenwich is to be given the rare honour of becoming a Royal Borough in recognition of Greenwich’s global significance as the home of the Prime Meridian, Greenwich Mean Time and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
When you think of Greenwich, you think of the meridian and standing on the ‘line’ between the eastern and western hemispheres (usually aged 10 and with your class group). The observatory has always been the ‘star’ of the Greenwich site, with astronomy and matters of the universe constantly in the news. Perched on the high ground however, it’s disconnected with the rest of the site.
Our challenge was to bring it into the group, representing the Observatory in a brand identity principally themed by water.
The breakthrough was incorporating a constellation amongst the water droplets of the ‘splash’ – if you look hard enough, the Pleiades will reveal itself…
The droplets become stars and the brand world becomes Royal purple to match the status of the observatory. We have been busy creating a branded experience in and around the Meridian courtyard designed to direct and stimulate the crowds as they wait to stand on the line. The aim is to highlight the wealth of knowledge available to view at Flamsteed House besides the meridian line. Flamsteed was built by Christopher Wren and is home to the Astronomers Royal and the Harrison clock collection.
Karl Randall, Senior Designer at SomeOne says “We wanted to make as big a splash as possible for the Museum, so we decided to create a 21st century image rendered entirely in CGI which would give us the opportunity to animate and light it, creating a flexible brand world that could evolve and adapt over time.”
David Law, co-founder of SomeOne explains “We created an entirely bespoke ‘splash’ that we then lit with different colours to make individual splashes for each of the three sites – sea blue for the Maritime Museum, gold for the Queen’s House and Royal purple for the Observatory. The ‘Group’ splash is clear water to represent the whole.”
David Law, co-founder of SomeOne continues “The best part is that people see different things in the splash — some see a crown, others see a ship, there’s even a star constellation amongst the droplets. We decided that it would be more reflective of the diverse offer of the group to keep these elements subtle, so you see a splash first and foremost, then maybe something else at a second glance – like seeing shapes in clouds.”
Karl Randall, Senior Designer at SomeOne elaborates “Alongside this, we have employed the beautiful typeface ‘Farnham’ by Christian Schwartz as a group typeface family for all communications. It is a contemporary take on 1700’s punchcutter Johannes Fleischmann’s work. Known for its ‘sparkle’ on the page, Farnham has been designed for the digital age and for us really reflects the new directions of the museum as a whole whilst acknowledging the past.”
As the identity rolls out, the splash will ‘come alive’ as the ‘liquidity’ brand world is further employed across digital signage and gallery projections.
Claire Hyde, Head of Communications at the National Maritime Museum says “SomeOne has produced an inspiring identity for us which reflects the huge steps we are taking to engage with our visitors in a contemporary, more conversational way.”
Lord Sterling, Chairman of the National Maritime Museum said: “Our maritime story is Britain’s national story. And understanding the way the past has shaped the present never been more important in enriching our understanding of the world and providing inspiration for the future. This visionary transformation would not have been possible without the support of Sammy Ofer and the Heritage Lottery Fund. In the Sammy Ofer Wing, our new exhibition space will introduce new generations of visitors to the many rich narratives bound up in our maritime story”.