In a word – quirky

Of course London has many wonderful ‘things’ to shout about – but so do many other great cities. What makes London truly distinctive is its quirkiness: the understated, confident, self-deprecating style that anyone who knows London will recognise. So, we put quirkiness at the heart of the brand and found 100 ways to express the idea across all the key areas of tourism, inward investment, culture and education. As the Economist recently put it, “The more interconnected the world is, the more people crave a sense of place – the more distinctive and unusual the better”. The Olympic Games in 2012 represented London’s first major public outing since the set-backs from previous years – and the general feedback from even the harshest critics seems to be that the world’s greatest city is in rude health again. Adopted so far by a number of agencies including London & Partners, Visit London and, most recently, the Mayor of London, the brand looks set to be the public face of the city for years to come.

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Client: London Government
Project: London brand development
Agency: Saffron Consultants
Role: Design Director
Date: 2007/8
Region: Global