Bank of England Visual Identity by Matteo Ruisi and Peter McCabe is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Silver A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Competition Category.
SilverGraphic· 2022
Bank of England Visual Identity
by Matteo Ruisi and Peter McCabe
Client: Bank of England
Silver A' Design Award Winner in Graphic Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #138983The Design
About Bank of England Visual Identity
Designing for a central bank means finding a balance between technical and sensitive information, staff-led outputs, engaging general communications, and a series of regulations. This is not simple to achieve and it is based on delicate internal dynamics. The new identity has been developed together with the people who will use it, balancing all the aspects of the communications. It focuses on reaching a wider public with an accessible, relevant, structured, and distinctive approach. These key principles have been used as a design direction for all the visual assets.
The Recognition
About the Silver A' Design Award
Bank of England Visual Identity is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. Bank of England Visual Identity is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Bank of England Visual Identity is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.
Where to Get It
Strategic Brand Identity Design Services
We specialize in creating distinctive visual identities for major brands and institutions. With experience at agencies like Ogilvy and clients including Yahoo!, Disney, and financial institutions, we bring strategic thinking and creative excellence to elevate your brand's communication and reach wider audiences.
Discuss Your ProjectInterviews
Grand Interview
Your innovative approach to balancing technical information with public accessibility in the Bank of England Visual Identity has earned significant recognition, including a Silver A' Design Award – could you share the key principles that guided your design decisions in achieving this delicate balance?
In the Bank of England Visual Identity, I focused on making complex, technical information visually accessible without oversimplifying it. Key principles included clarity, hierarchy, and a strong sense of consistency. I used simple, modern design elements to make the data approachable while maintaining the institution's credibility. By prioritizing legibility and using intuitive design choices, I ensured the identity resonated with a broad audience, from industry professionals to the general public, while preserving the institution’s authority and professionalism.
The Bank of England Visual Identity prominently features a dyslexia-friendly typeface and an inclusive Britannia seal – what inspired these specific choices, and how do they align with the institution's vision of being more open and accessible?
The inclusion of a dyslexia-friendly typeface and an inclusive Britannia seal in the Bank of England Visual Identity was driven by the desire to enhance accessibility and reflect the institution’s commitment to openness. The typeface was chosen to improve readability for a wider audience, including those with dyslexia, while the Britannia seal was redesigned to represent inclusivity, emphasizing unity and the bank’s connection to the diverse public it serves. These choices align with the Bank's goal of being more approachable, transparent, and responsive to all individuals, regardless of background or ability.
In developing the Bank of England Visual Identity during the pandemic, how did remote collaboration influence your creative process and enable wider staff participation in this significant rebranding project?
Remote collaboration during the pandemic played a key role in shaping the Bank of England Visual Identity. By working entirely online, I was able to engage with a wide range of staff across different departments. This facilitated their input, especially in designing charts and ensuring accessibility, which enriched the design process and helped make the final identity both relevant and inclusive. The collaborative approach was integral to creating a design that truly represented the Bank's values and mission.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The new visual identity for the Bank of England has been designed following four key principles: accessibility, relevance, structure, distinctiveness.
The new logo is designed with a dyslexia friendly type. The Britannia seal is more welcoming and inclusive. Colours are inspired by the notes. Photography depicts the design of the Bank's notes. Charts and diagrams have been created together with wider staff.
Accessibility charities have been consulted at different stages. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Not applicable
- Tags
- Accessible, relevant, structured, distinctive, optimised, simple, balanced
- Production Technology
- Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Frontify.com, HTML and CSS.
- Design Challenge
- The biggest challenge was to define an effective balance between accessible contents, very technical and sensitive information, staff-led outputs, chart design, and engaging general communications.
The project has been entirely managed in-house, to get the opportunity to involve wider staff in delicate aspects of the design process. This approach has guaranteed the simplification and optimisation of the design process. - Research
- The most effective way for the Bank to be understood lies in the accessibility aspect. The content the Bank produces is very technical, and difficult to understand. Sometimes even for a trained audience.
Accessibility experts have been involved at different stages. They've contributed to the definition of a creative strategy and a design solution that improves the readability of the Bank contents, especially regarding charts. - Inspiration
- The Bank of England has recently embraced new forms of communicating. Its vision is to be open, inclusive, and straightforward to reach a wider audience. However, it is hard to conjugate staff-led technical outputs and general communications in a manner that the visuals meet the vision consistently.
To solve that, the visual identity has been brought more in line with the Bank's values, purpose, and mission to get closer to the public it serves. - Project Duration
- The project started in 2020 during the pandemic, and it has been entirely done remotely. This has facilitated interaction with all relevant teams.
It has been published on 3 March 2022. - Operation Flow
- The new visual identity system has been designed in collaboration with Bank of England staff. This has greatly benefited the effectiveness of the design outputs.
Logo, colours, and typography has been designed to be relevant, distinctive, and accessible, especially for colour-blind people and people with dyslexia.
A comprehensive online brand portal has been created for staff and designers to use.
The Bank produces thousands of charts every year, therefore a one-size-fits-all template for the charts has been designed.
A new CSS has been introduced to enhance accessibility. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to The Governor and Company of the Bank of England. All Rights Reserved.
- Team Members
- Lead Designer: Matteo Ruisi
Designer: Peter McCabe - Image Credits
- Image #2: Illustrator Chris Mitchell
Image #3: Photographer Lee Funnell
Video Credits: Nicholas Flanagan
Copyrights The Governor and Company of the Bank of England. All Rights Reserved.
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