Sheffield City Hall
Brand refresh for an iconic concert hall
Built in the 1920s, Sheffield City Hall is a much-loved venue in the heart of the city. We were asked to refresh the brand identity to deliver a more refined look. The team also tasked us with devising ways to tell stories about the building’s heritage.
We took inspiration from motifs and colours in the building – there are stars everywhere, and those blue gates were a gift – drawing on them to create a visual language that works across multiple brand touchpoints.
Messaging was a big part of this project. We found ways to tell City Hall stories through murals, interpretation panels and an enormous timeline. Inside, outside, backstage and front of house – we created over a hundred outputs and counting. There was a lot to say!
The City Hall is huge. With multiple floors and stages, a ballroom and several bars, it can be complicated to navigate. We worked on a signage audit with the front of house team to understand how visitors move around the building. This helped us to design a signage system that concisely conveys to people where they are and guides them to where they want to go.
We used consistent colour across signage and other applications. Doing so helps visitors navigate and allowed us to convey key messages about the City Hall’s history.
“There were lots of challenges when we refreshed the Sheffield City Hall brand but Eleven supported us throughout the process. They listened to our needs, provided great solutions and delivered the project on budget and on time.”
Simon Bailey, Marketing Manager, Sheffield City Hall
We believe a brand should sound as good as it looks. We worked closely with the City Hall team to shape their tone of voice and brand messaging.
We devised a series of messages to convey the excitement of visiting the City Hall. They tell stories of the stars who’ve performed there – from The Who to The Halle, and (our favourite) Iggy Pop to Igglepiggle.
We created a (huge) timeline for the (huge) Ballroom to tell stories from the City Hall’s heritage. It takes visitors from the opening in the 1920s through to present day. It shows key events in the life of the building and the city – including visits from everyone from astronauts to artists, prime ministers to pop music icons.
Because we had a lot of room to play with, we suggested a series of large-scale murals to show some of the acts who’ve appeared at the City Hall over the years. The murals reinforce the importance of the building and the variety of people who’ve performed on its stages.
We illustrated the murals and Will Rea painted them directly onto walls around the City Hall.
