National Coal Mining Museum:
Brand overhaul for one of Yorkshire’s key visitor attractions.
Approach
Since 1988, the National Coal Mining Museum has told the nation’s story of coal to hundreds of thousands of visitors at their expansive site at Caphouse Colliery in Overton, near Wakefield.
In the summer of 2023, we were commissioned to undertake a comprehensive brand refresh of the museum, with the key aim of modernising the identity and creating compelling marketing material which brought the attraction in line with other key destinations in the north, and beyond.
Previously, communications had been disjointed, with a variety of design styles being employed. As part of the project we delivered a detailed set of Brand Guidelines which ensures consistency on all material moving forwards.
We adopted a simple, yet bold visual language; the main feature being the use of prominent hero images, with the added drama and energy of dynamic ‘coal burst’ graphics behind. Jagged edges and angled shapes add to the feeling of tunnelling deep underground.
The branding is underpinned with the strapline ‘Unearth the Unexpected’ which summarises that surprise and discovery is never far away.
