University of Greenwich: Change Starts Here

Through consultation, collaboration and co-creation, one of the most diverse and inclusive higher education institutions in the world has reconnected with its core purpose and crafted a powerful new story to engage students and staff. The University of Greenwich knew it needed to better explain how it added value, beyond being centred on the celebrated heritage site in Greenwich. These grand and austere buildings are at odds with the University’s deep social roots, formed helping many first generation university students create a different kind of future. Insight We began by holding confidential conversations with students, staff, partners and employers. This helped the University realise it needed to better explain how it added value, beyond being centred on a celebrated heritage site, and find the golden thread that connected the past, present and future of the University and its students. Ideas That thread was transformational change. Greenwich, the birthplace of time and space transformed the science and practice of navigation with true global impact. The University’s origins were in training working class men and women to work in London’s fast growing industries, leading to rapid social and economic progress. Everyone who attends the university today also has the opportunity to change their own, their community’s and wider society’s future through education. With a more powerful, emotive story that explains how the university transforms lives through inspired teaching and research, rbl then looked at bringing the identity up to date. We took the approach of turning the analogue into digital, refining many of the University’s historic assets to create a contemporary and dynamic visual language that is based in the integers of time. Impact The new identity is a flexible system that reflects the University’s inclusive, creative and ambitious values. Designers can bring their own interpretation to the brand using the powerful ‘change lines’ to reinforce ideas and messages across both traditional and digital media.