Historic Building & Places: A new name and brand to empower the present and sustain our future

A new name and brand to empower the present and sustain our future For nearly 100 years the Ancient Monuments Society has played an important part in shaping our built environment, promoting the study and conservation of historic buildings while influencing the planning process. After their 60-year partnership with Friends of Friendless Churches came to end the organisation looked to reshape its future by rebuilding the brand from the ground up, better reflecting their purpose and reaching out to new members whilst not alienating the existing audience. Insight The organisation’s name was a legacy of their early and foundational role in the heritage establishment. But it had lost relevance to their focus, their remit had grown and evolved, they now look to protect humble heritage, the collection of layers that shape the way we live every day. As such the new brand needed to create a positive connection between people and places, demonstrating a vision for a sustainable built environment in every sense.. This started with a new, more holistic name – Historic Buildings and Places. Ideas Unlike some similar organisations, Historic Buildings and Places commitment to quality, craft and design extends well beyond any one time period or fashion. The new identity needed to be equally timeless. Using decades of successful casework as inspiration, the identity includes features from buildings and places of all types, ages and regions combined to represent the diversity of heritage the organisation champions and demonstrate the strong sense of community the society supports. Impact From there we built a brand capable of representing the past while facing forward. Modern typography balanced more traditional heritage colours. A comprehensive direction for imagery communicates a stronger relationship between people and place. A versatile and organic illustration style brings life into static structures. These brand elements formed a flexible foundation for application, from a new more member focused website to magazines that feel editorial – the building shapes provide an ownable, recognisable and usable identity that provides Historic Buildings and Places with a platform to start their next 100 years.