The Typographic Hub
Creating a globally-recognised identity and website for this typographic centre of excellence.
The Typographic Hub is a Birmingham City University research centre which works to promote the history, theory and practice of typographic design. Supercool were tasked with creating the Hub's identity and online presence.
We worked closely with archivist and Research Fellow, Dr Caroline Archer, to ensure the logo and overall look of the site is sympathetic to the subject matter – and the hub's location.
For example, the masthead is set in Elephant from Steven Shanks (recast for Birmingham's Kynoch Press in the 1930s) and the background pattern is made from tessellating a John Baskerville glyph.
The website homepage is a complementary contrast to the in-depth Articles and Research within, being highly visual. The entire site is structured simply and clearly, to enable those searching for something specific to easily locate the information they're after, as well as encouraging casual browsing.
An easy-to-update Diary section holds forthcoming events which may be of interest to the site's visitors, and within Heritage you can find out about Birmingham's myriad links with the art, craft and industry of typography.
The Typographic Hub website launch caused a huge stir in the typographic community, all across the world; reinforcing its importance and reputation as a growing typographic resource. (There's a blog post about it if you'd like to know more.)
Currently in development is a bespoke, searchable catalogue database, which will enable people to browse the contents of the Typographic Hub library, which currently holds over 4,000 reference books, journals, periodicals, trade literature and other items of typographic ephemera.
The website is also online home to Pearl – the Hub's very own journal – the first edition of which is due to be published in 2012.
What we did
- Brand consultancy
- Brand creation
- Identity
- Logo
- Typography
- Web design
- Website build (content-managed)
"Supercool were a fabulous team to work with. They fully understood the practical requirements of the site and interpreted the design brief perfectly. I am delighted with the result both in terms of the appearance of the site and the ease with which it functions. The reception from the design community has been very positive and Supercool’s work has done much to increase the reputation of, and awareness for our work."Dr Caroline Archer, Archivist and Research Fellow, The Typographic Hub
