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

Poster

Before

Apparel & Lovers

The Concrete Utopia collection is a unique collaboration between Apparel & Lovers and the Barbican. Flashes of primary colour, graphic lines and brutalist high-rises feature across the collection – all brought together in a minimalistic style. Every purchase supports the Barbican.

After

Join the Concrete Utopia

Flashes of colour. Bold graphic lines. Unmistakable minimalism. We’ve teamed up with Helsinki designers Apparel & Lovers to create the Concrete Utopia collection — inspired by the Barbican’s iconic architecture. Shop the collection. Support our work

What’s not working?

How many people will have heard of ‘Apparel and Lovers’? How can we draw them in with a more engaging headline?
Slow, long-winded sentences — particularly for a poster that’s meant to grab the eye

What’s changed?

Using a call to action to create an intriguing headline — what’s the Concrete Utopia?
Using short sentences for energy and rhythm: Flashes of colour. Bold graphic lines…
Explaining who Apparel & Lovers are
Using a call to action to encourage customers to buy (and support our work)

Source: Shop poster

Too small