Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Current front page of
The Guardian
newspaper in print format.
As technologies and behaviours change, how do established brands deal with the
challenge of delivering their content, in this case news, across a variety of platforms?
How do you maintain the visual identity, capture the quality, intention and integrity
of the original, but translate it effectively into an experience appropriate to both the
product and the platform?
This is one challenge that many publications have found themselves facing with the
rapid expansion and creation of digital technologies.
The Guardian
is a British newspaper first published in 1821. Its current design was
launched in 2005, when the paper adopted the Berliner mid-size format (the first UK
newspaper to do so). It was also the UK's first full-colour national newspaper.
The
Guardian
is considered to be a high-quality independent newspaper with a strong
design aesthetic. It has a distinct graphic language, a strong typographic style and ex-
cellent use of colour throughout to define different sections and support navigation
through the paper.
How has this paper managed to create a coherent visual style that translates success-
fully across a variety of platforms? In an interview with
Creative Review
that dis-
cusses 'Brand Guardian', Mark Porter, the newspaper's creative director, talks about
how the redesign of the paper had 'almost accidentally … laid the foundations for
a strong branding programme'. (
Creative Review
, February 2009, p. 32). The strong
visual language that had been created for the paper, the typeface and use of colour on
a white background became the distinct elements that appear across the range of
The
Guardian
's communications.
The Guardian
's visual identity in signage
Project:
Wayfinding design for
The Guardian
's offices in King's Cross,
London
Design:
Cartlidge Levene, London
This established visual language was carried across into the wayfinding designed by
Cartlidge Levene for
The Guardian
's offices in Kings Place, King's Cross, London.
The agency had the challenge of designing a solution with a low environmental im-
pact. The directional signage is manufactured entirely from cardboard. This was made
