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About

These guidelines have been created by the Barbican Studio, which is the in-house design team at the Barbican Centre, London. The Studio creates most of the visual material for the Centre. It is based in the Marketing Department and consists of four permanent designers.

The current structure of the design team was created in 2011 and coincides with a major rebranding project undertaken by North. The philosophy of the team is based on the visual guidelines North created at the time. These set out a flexible system influenced by the Centre’s vision of ‘arts without boundaries’ and includes strong visual elements that allow freedom and diversity.

For further information contact design@barbican.org.uk

Browse

Chapter
0.0 Our Voice 1.0 Invite 2.0 Show 3.0 Passion 4.0 Examples 5.0 Recap 6.0 Accessibility
Page
0.0.1 Intro 0.0.2 Values 0.0.3 Principles
1.0.1 Intro 1.0.2 Everyday 1.0.3 Personal 1.0.4 Shorten 1.0.5 Artspeak 1.0.6 Test
2.0.1 Imagine 2.0.2 Attention 2.0.3 Start 2.0.4 Concise 2.0.5 Qualifiers
3.0.1 Intro 3.0.2 Tell 3.0.3 Ask 3.0.4 Rhythm 3.0.5 Variety
4.0.1 Intro 4.0.2 Homepage 4.0.3 Season 4.0.4 Advert 4.0.5 Notice 4.0.6 Invite 4.0.7 Poster 4.0.8 Hire 4.0.9 Response 4.1.0 Report 4.1.1 Exhibition
5.0.1 Audiences 5.0.2 Cheatsheet
6.0.1 Language 6.0.2 Jargon 6.0.3 Headings 6.0.4 Links 6.0.5 Opinions 6.0.6 Images
Homepage

Before

Welcome to the Barbican

A world-class arts and learning centre, the Barbican pushes the boundaries of all major art forms including dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts.

Event calendar >

After

Welcome to the Barbican

Dance. Film. Music. Theatre. Visual arts. Whatever you’re into, you’ll find it here.

Explore >

What’s not working?

  • It’s a description, not an invitation: the Barbican is a world-class arts and learning centre, not Come to the Barbican
  • It’s all about us, with no mention of the visitor
  • It sounds a little elitist: world-class, pushes the boundaries, major art forms

What’s changed?

  • Replacing formal, elitist language with warmer, more everyday phrases: major art forms => whatever art you’re into
  • Using single-word sentences to suggest rhythm and confidence: Dance. Film. Music. Theatre. Visual arts.
  • Using a call to action — Explore — to really welcome visitors in

Source: Barbican website

Examples
4.0.2