Norwich Castle receives ‘uncompromisingly simple’ rebrand

The entire design system, which was crafted by British design studio The Click, utilised squares as a means of providing a coherent brand format. Norwich Castle’s revised brand was designed to better support its ever-evolving digital offering.

Recognised as a local historical landmark, the castle has dominated the English city’s skyline for almost a thousand years, dating all the way back to the days of William the Conqueror. Having had a long a colourful history of being used as a fortification, a royal palace and a prison, the building is nowadays used as a museum and art gallery.

The Click’s new brand design for Norwich Castle was informed by a challenge it posed to members of the public. Giving people just a pen and post-it note, the design studio asked them to draw the castle from memory alone. The results of this experiment indicated the cube-like shape of the Norman Keep was highly recognisable.

By utilising squares throughout the design system, The Click engineered a simple and easy-to-use format for wider templates and applications. The design also references crenelations from the castle, allowing them to act as a graphic divider in signage, campaigns and digital applications.

Adam Ewels, design director at The Click, says, “We crafted an uncompromisingly simple mark – unmistakably portraying Norwich Castle. In isolation, the core brand logo is understated and intentionally unembellished. We removed everything from the previous brand logo that wasn’t needed – distilling the visual representation of the castle to its simplest and most iconic form. The geometry of the core brand logo directly informs a unique (nine column) grid system – referencing the number of merlons on each aspect of the castle.”

The rebrand follows on from an extensive £13 million renovation of the castle, with the improved café and restaurant, new digital and learning spaces, and refurbished Keep set to open in 2024.