The Bridge Branding
Highlighting local culture and heritage
The Bridge, Stalybridge’s cultural consortium, was formed to deliver a four year cultural heritage programme that will aid the success of the Stalybridge Heritage Action Zone scheme. As part of this programme, the group aims to inspire, connect, and engage the local community through four place-based projects.
As a member of The Bridge, Point North developed a brand identity to help the group submit more successful bids, attracting funding for future projects that will strengthen the cultural infrastructure in Stalybridge. Current supporters of the group include Arts Council England, Historic England, and Tameside MBC.
CLIENT
The Bridge
SERVICES
Identity design
VIEW CREDITS
Our goal
Residents of the Tameside borough currently have a low opinion of the town. Attracting funding is paramount to enabling the creation of enrichment activities and co-production opportunities for the local community. Our goal was to frame Stalybridge as a town with a rich cultural heritage that is worthy of investment, and worthy of exploring.
Concept development
Throughout our discussions with the group, placemaking and bridging communities were the two key themes that surfaced. We used these insights as the foundation for the brand logo, creating a bridge motif as a direct reference to Stalybridge and the idea of bringing the community together.
A flexible and
cohesive identity
A set of symbols were developed to represent the four programme strands, along with an extensive colour palette designed for use across a diverse range of activities. It was essential to create a cohesive identity with the flexibility to be split amongst communications with partners, funders, and the four projects, whilst also working well as a whole.
Celebrating culture
The bold visual style reflects the vibrant culture and heritage of Stalybridge, framing the town’s memories and hidden treasures as something new and exciting waiting to be discovered.
Showcasing the strengths
Transparency is an integral part of successful place-based branding. It was imperative that the brand identity highlighted what Stalybridge has to offer without misleading the community, and suggesting the town’s cultural offer is greater than it is.
The result
The Bridge recently submitted a successful bid to win the title of Greater Manchester's Town of Culture 2022. The group now have greater confidence in their brand, and have benefitted from having an identity that truly represents Stalybridge's cultural offer.