Launceston Town Brand Identity
Your story to discover
Brand strategy & organising idea
Visual identity creation
Brand guidelines
Launceston, once the capital of Cornwall, is a historic, walled market town set amongst the rolling east Cornish countryside and the picturesque Tamar valley.
Sitting equidistant from north and south coasts, it boasts a unique topography that echoes a Mediterranean town skyline. Heritage and local vernacular architecture is abundant throughout the medieval streets, which contain mainly small independent shops, however its industry hosts some of the largest businesses in Europe. The town has a strong sense of community, togetherness and civic pride, its motto, “Royale et Loyale”, contributes to its royal significance and its adherence to the Cavalier cause during the English Civil War.
Our challenge?
To develop a new visual identity for Launceston that represents the town’s past, present and future, appealing to businesses, tourists and residents alike.
A town or city is a place and a way of living that people choose to identify with. The people showing those values are the brand; their values are the essence of the brand. The people are shareholders in the brand.
The quality of their life is the profit from the project.
Brand strategy built on insight
We worked with Launceston Chamber of Commerce to define a brand identity that captures and compliments the Launceston Town Planning Group’s (LTPG) vision for the future.
We began with a process of immersive discovery to capture as much information as possible in order to underpin an authentic brand strategy for Launceston Town and create a foundation for years to come.
The contribution and collaboration from the Launceston public, businesses, public sector and community representatives showed that Launceston has a strong sense of togetherness and community spirit. There is a real passion and pride for Launceston and a strong homely connection. It’s strong heritage and history is clearly a defining factor to it’s identity, which we couldn’t ignore. There is, however, a forward thinking outlook to life in the town, with sustainability and inclusivity forming as new pillars for the future.
Launceston is the ancient capital of Cornwall. You might say it is where Cornwall's story began.
Launceston is everyone’s to enjoy. It’s inclusive and welcoming and there’s a story on every corner. It’s an integral part of Cornwall’s historic tapestry and is there to be discovered and enjoyed. It’s people are diverse and their stories are part of Launceston’s story. As a visitor you are welcome to discover your own version of Launceston and make it your own.
"Your story to discover"
We look to get people to engage with the story behind a place, revealing its significance - the art, the culture, the people and the landscape. Physical, biological, socio-economic, cultural and historical events entwine to give it uniqueness.
"Gendall were enthusiastic about our project from the beginning. They weren't afraid to get stuck in to public consultation and hearing from locals what they think of their town and provided some really interesting and thought provoking stakeholder engagement.
The outcome resulted in a product that has hit the nail on the head on something we have collectively struggled with for decades. They have really captured the spirit of Launceston and its people by tipping the hat to the town's rich heritage while encouraging investment for the future."
Tash Baskerville
Culture & Place Shaping Lead, Launceston Chamber of Commerce
The importance of Sense of Place
A strong sense of place has real meaning to the thousands of local people and visitors, encouraging a sense of community ownership and support, youth engagement, connection with nature, and economic and community development.
The brand vision we looked to establish was rooted in a strong, coherent identity with it’s own distinctive language and culture, capturing the spirit of the people and place. Drawing on the rich heritage, the character of the landscape and other features such as geology and vernacular architecture, whilst thoroughly embracing and looking to the future through connectivity, visionary energy strategies and interconnected communities (per the LTPG’s future strategy).
We believe that in town branding it is vital that the core visual logotype, symbol and positioning statement is future proof and has longevity.
Rolling fields and hills blend with the Southgate Arch to form a distinctive and ownable icon for Launceston town.
An ‘L’ Ident is an illustrative application of our logo that can be used for marketing, signage and digital purposes. Our brand can be adapted and dramatised to give the viewer a sense of story telling, linking back to our strapline ‘Your story to discover’. ‘L’ Idents use our master brand lock-up as a backbone for new compositions too. With no restrictions on graphics or colour scheme, the idents can be as imaginative as they like in order to convey the tale that the logo is telling. For instance, we created an ident with a Mexican festival motif to communicate the event.
In order to further convey the idea of storytelling, we developed an open book device. The open book device can be placed at the bottom of communications including images on web pages and in poster and infographics.
