The coastline around Sussex, Kent and Essex has a blend of cultural venues, outdoor activity and great food which is brought together by the new travel experience. Together these will make up new travel itineraries for European visitors, which in 2021 will include newly commissioned site specific artworks.

We started with an audience focused workshop, learning about the visitors from across Europe who might be interested in visiting the area. This was an important moment for the network of gallery partners to come together.

From the workshop we were able to propose a structure to define the parts of the programme, which includes commissions, partner venues and may develop further activity in the future.

Our proposal ‘The Creative Coast’ was able to work well with all of these elements. It was later developed to England’s Creative Coast, based on feedback from the travel markets in Netherlands, Belgium and France which are key markets.

Based on our research we developed visual responses to work with the name. The ideas explored the coastal location, the network and aspects of connection.

The pinpoint, X marks the spot, works perfectly for our partners, marking locations around the coast.

The mark is drawn from the typographic logo, they can be used together to create the visual identity.

The interaction of the mark and the imagery is the key to bringing the brand to life, and will continue to develop the brand.

Part of the toolkit shows how to balance the elements when combining them.

The mark can also be applied on a large scale, making it perfect for a gallery setting, indoors and outdoors, giving England’s Creative Coast visibility to audiences at the partner venues.

We created a simple toolkit, this was key to make sure the various partner venues and tourist bodies could all use the branding flexibly and consistently.

There is a smaller guide for partners who might use just the logo and partner logos. It was important to think about the needs for different partners and their levels of involvement in producing these guides.

The larger toolkit has guidance on imagery, colour, typography and the mark.

We’re proud to have worked to bring together these inspirational venues, with a bold identity to unite them.