A project that aimed to create a brand the city of Leeds' inhabitants felt a sense of ownership for. Created using Kavartizis’s process of place branding; which examines historical city branding processes and forms a model that incorporates the local population opinion and the area as an integral element to ensuring the brands connection with its audience.

This model starts with the intention of the brand, to represent and portray the city in the best and most accurate manner. Stage two examines the local community, internal culture and businesses and how they view and interpret the city, so the brand comes from the people rather than being imposed upon them. The vision is then amended, with these considerations in mind. Progressing from that, the cityscape, infrastructure and opportunities available are examined, and how these are reflected within the branding is taken into consideration. This leads to the final vision and strategy that manifests as the final identity communication.

This was a branding project where the client has been running a small business teaching music to local adults and children since 1998. The brand uses this heritage and a connection to the local area through hand-drawn illustration, inviting colours and a bold legible logo. 

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While looking at the cityscape of Leeds we found the remnants of the city's industrial history painted in the ghost signs on the buildings. This is a zine (above) created to reveal the lost typography of Leeds, a historical trace of a now covered or fading story. This zine recreates the alphabets of ghost signs, showing a language of the city that mass media and mass production usurped. This language can be rediscovered, and we can use this to take history into the future. From these letterforms I created a typeface that randomised all the styles to create a typeface drawing from the blend of graphic design from across Leeds (below).

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All-Letters

TEST YOUR STREETS NAME HERE

This brings us the second development of the vision and strategy, one that looks to be representative of the wide audience. As the audience is one that crosses a diverse gamut the identity will use a ‘flexible’ branding style. In this manner we will use the ghost alphabet font to allow the city to create multiple logotypes themselves, that reflect Leeds’s history. Streets and communities that may feel forgotten can be included as they are able to generate their own street logo, one that fits easily into the family of the greater city brand, while personalising media to them. Instead of the brand being imposed on a passive audience we can instigate self-involvement with the city, bringing communities together as they are able to produce media for themselves.

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The home of my ideas and explorations.

© Flynn Shore | 2023

© Flynn Shore | 2023

© Flynn Shore | 2023