Longbridge needed to construct a stronger and more distinctive identity to guide future development that helps create a coherent sense of place and attract a diverse community who add a dynamism and want to drive positive social change and be a part of shaping a positive future for their place.
The location, the spatial opportunities and the approach of St. Modwen, the landowner and master developer, create nascent potential for Longbridge. There is an opportunity to build on the automotive history without specifically or overtly referencing the Austin heritage but by focussing on the values and skills that have been passed down by generations. A skills heritage that marks Longbridge as a home of successful British design and manufacturing and can support renewed enterprise with an emphasis on ingenuity and creativity.
The brand narrative for Longbridge describes a place that’s in the middle of evolving – it’s a place that’s being remade, rethought and reshaped – and that brings huge opportunity as well as excitement from considering the art of the possible. It’s a place with an impressive skills legacy, where craft and creation are in the air along with a desire to solve problems and get things done. In a changing post-pandemic world, an industrial heritage has shown this community what matters – planning for the future, nurturing skills and building in resilience through sustainable growth. Longbridge is about timeless quality and a long-term approach; built to last.
Approach
Instead of designing an identity revolving around a single visual solution or mark, the Longbridge identity expresses individuality through a bespoke and dynamic font and wordmark. We wanted to create a custom typesetting with a distinctive sense of personality, quirks in the forms and a disregard for conventional type design. Some letters are very illustrative, others are more digital. The result is an eclectic mix of pictograms that that injects character into each form and give deeper meaning and symbolism to the brand values, custom marks that balance of historical and contemporary cues and letterforms pulled from expressive typefaces combine to create an entire letter and number set.
The basis of the visual language is a transformative and varied mix of typographic arrangements aiming to showcase Longbridge as a place shaped by many people, with an impressive skills legacy and timeless quality.
