To mark its 200th anniversary, Leeds Museums & Galleries launched a special exhibition celebrating two centuries of collections and their significance to the people of Leeds. We partnered with the team to create an overarching identity that captures the scale and spirit of this milestone.
A bicentenary is a rare and meaningful moment – but communicating its importance in a way that feels engaging and relevant to modern audiences can be a challenge. Museum exhibitions can sometimes feel formal or distant, particularly when dealing with history at this scale.
There was an opportunity to reframe the celebration as something inclusive, emotive, and community-driven – highlighting not just the age of the collections, but their connection to people’s lives. The challenge was to create a bold, accessible identity that would attract a wide audience while honouring the significance of the milestone.
We took a clear and confident approach, placing “200” at the heart of the identity – making the anniversary itself the hero. This simple, emotive figure immediately communicates the importance of the exhibition and creates a strong visual anchor across all touchpoints.
Playful confetti graphics introduce a sense of celebration and energy, transforming the exhibition into a moment of joy rather than just reflection. The overall tone is bold, positive, and inviting.
Across marketing collateral, the identity flexes to showcase a wide range of artefacts and stories – emphasising their personal and cultural significance to the people of Leeds. The result is a celebratory brand that honours the past while engaging audiences in the present.
What do you do when it’s your 200th birthday? For Leeds Museums & Galleries, we created an overarching identity for a special exhibition exploring two centuries of collections, and what they mean to the people of Leeds.
We followed a clear and simple approach, which confidently says 200 – this is the emotive figure and what makes this exhibition special. Playful confetti graphics add a feeling of celebration and make the exhibition feel special.
Bold, celebratory and positive – our identity celebrates such a huge milestone. Marketing collateral promotes a vast array of artefact’s and stories – which have real significance to local people.
“We love the exhibition design, it’s really vibrant, fun and family friendly. The objects work really well alongside the brand colours, and the confetti throughout really marks the celebration!“
Rachael Dilley, Curator of Exhibitions at Leeds Museums & Galleries