Culture Mile Celebrates London's Creativity and Commerce with Dynamic Campaign

Creature has created a dynamic campaign in time for Culture Mile’s summer programme – Play the Mile – an incredible series of free events exploring the value of play and creativity in everyday life, running from Farringdon to Moorgate across 100 days this summer.

Culture Mile is a corner of London’s working capital, where creativity is fast becoming the most valuable currency. Led by the City of London Corporation, together with the Barbican, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London Symphony Orchestra and the Museum of London, the five partners are leading the animation of the whole neighbourhood with imaginative collaborations and events, aiming to redefine the City of London as a global leader in both culture and commerce.

The agency was appointed back in February of this year and was tasked with creating a campaign that uses audience insight to shift perceptions of the area and celebrates the rich myriad of events that happen within Culture Mile, and, in doing so, takes the current brand design to another level.  

The resulting bold and versatile logo lockup and design featured will run through all communications, and is the focal point for the new brand campaign featuring OOH and some digital display.

Inspiration for the new design was taken from the geometric shapes and emphasis on function of the Bauhaus movement found in the current Culture Mile logo. This led the team to look at the design of maps, tying in nicely with the geographical nature of the Square Mile, its outstanding connectivity and the rich history of mapping in the area.

The new lockup is formed of simple shapes that can be extended and abstracted easily, without breaking legibility or form. These ‘extensions’ act as streets on a map, allowing sectioning off of photographic elements or information on the page, and visually reflecting Culture Mile's broad geographic shape, aiding consistency and recognition.

Andrew Marcus, Museum of London's head of communications and culture mile marketing lead said: “The Creature team have skillfully crafted a design system which is beautifully simple while showcasing the wonderful variety that is Culture Mile, as well as enhancing the fundamental tenets of the brand. Thanks to Creature, the campaign for Culture Mile’s first ever season importantly puts the people who enjoy our activities front and centre, and is as playful and joyous as Culture Mile’s programme of events.”

Stu Outhwaite-Noel, CCO and founder of Creature said, “Culture Mile has the potential to be the most exciting cultural destination in London with creativity around every corner. It was therefore a joy to open this particular toy-box and create stand out, loud and proud work to invite the world to come and dive right in.” 

Dan Ball and Joe Stone, the creatives at Creature who were behind the campaign added: “The design is intended to replicate the City itself; a neat grid of streets and passages, simply and efficiently linking together the inspiring events and fascinating history of The City, with Culture Mile being right at the heart of it.”