whilst we’re on a bit of a religious tip it seemed appropriate to photograph some of the branding for the diocese of bradford which we designed about 4 years ago and is still going strong. how we came to be offered the work was a very pleasant experience - the bishop had expressed a desire to rebrand the diocese in order to suggest fresh thinking and a dynamic approach to being church. this was in contrast to the ‘firm of solicitors’ image that their current coat of arms suggested. the diocesan communications office asked around for suggestions of local designers who would bring understanding and enthusiasm to the job and our name turned up every time. (all those bottles of whisky sent to vicars at christmas clearly paid off…)

the visual identity is comprised of three main elements - the logo, the coloured strip (an echo of the logo) and the strapline. the diocese asked for some ideas for a strapline that would symbolise both the history and tradition of the anglican church and a forward-thinking attitude. ‘future faithful’ was what we came up with and was an instant hit.

the colours that make up the logo and colour strip were chosen for symbolic reasons: blue is for the river aire and bradford beck on top of which the city of bradford is built. green symbolises the moors and hills that make up the wider metropolitan area of bradford. grey represents the stone that the city’s iconic buildings are built from, purple has a long standing tradition of symblising christ the king and orange is a vibrant contemporary colour deliberately chosen to contrast with the others.

a rather nice coincidence that turned up was that all the colours were also represented in the bishop’s stole (long scarf type thing worn over his cassock). the logo flies as a flag from bradford cathedral as well as being available on everything from ‘future faithful’ badges to umbrellas.