The studio behind the rebrand has expanded the SS Great Britain into a full cultural destination, with a defiantly un-nautical pink lifted straight from Totterdown’s terraces.
Some ships are worth knowing about. Brunel’s SS Great Britain launched in 1843 as the first of her kind, and in the years since, she has lived more lives than most of us could ever imagine. Ocean liner, cargo ship, coal hulk, stranded castaway off the Falklands – she has carried 33,000 passengers around the world, supported war efforts, hauled actual gold, and inspired a few hundred tall tales along the way. Now she is getting her next chapter, and it’s a good one.
How&How has come aboard to create the experience and identity for the Bristol Dockyards, an all-new cultural destination built around the centuries-old ship and, fittingly, pitched at the heart of Britain’s most radical city.
What problem did the rebrand need to solve? Since her triumphant return to Bristol in 1970, the SS Great Britain has been a treasured centrepiece of the city, but treasured isn’t the same as visited. Ticket sales had slipped, the audience was ageing, and not enough people could find a reason to justify the 20-minute walk down the quayside to see her. All the care going into preserving this stretch of history simply wasn’t, well, landing.
So How&How decided that playing it safe was never going to cut it. The SS Great Britain isn’t like any other ship, Brunel isn’t like any other engineer, and Bristol – as anyone who has spent a weekend there will tell you – isn’t like any other city. The studio built something defiantly different instead, channelling two centuries of innovation and global wandering into a destination that once again wants to spark ideas that change the world.
That began with a complete refresh of brand architecture and a broader name above the gates. The Bristol Dockyards now reflects the full scope of a day out rather than a single vessel, giving three central experiences – the Being Brunel museum, the Brunel Institute’s maritime archive, and the ship herself – the room to finally sell themselves.
Holding it all together is a central collage system that tells the story of 200 years of history without letting any of it gather dust. And no, it’s not about pretty pictures – more about texture, as it merges timelines, typography and Dockyard odds and ends into something tactile, immersive and unmistakable from across the river.
Then there’s the colour, which does a lot of the heavy lifting. A pink borrowed from Totterdown’s famous terraces cheerfully defies every black-and-blue nautical brand going, backed up by bright yellows, greens and oranges that feel right at home in a city likely still drum n’ bassing by opening time.
The tone of voice follows suit, speaking up for itself the way Bristol always has. Deeper, vaster, braver – it channels the city’s attitude rather than imitating its accent, delivering an iron-willed message through iron-clad typography that flits between classic serif and semi-bold sans, from A-boards to the About page.
The Dockyards have always been a place of radical thinking. Now the brand matches. And How&How can’t wait to see people once again lining the banks of the Avon, craning for a glimpse of one of the UK’s most enduring icons.
You can see the full project on the How&How site, and find out more about visiting at the Bristol Dockyards website.
