Whitechapel Gallery Marks 125 Years with Bold, Community-Driven Visual Identity

Whitechapel Gallery has launched its 125th anniversary year with a visual identity that is fresh, bold, dynamic, and rooted in collaboration and co-production.

The new identity was created by BBH Studios and is designed to celebrate the Gallery’s pioneering legacy and unique history and exemplify a confident, visionary future for the institution. The identity is a deliberate act of maximalist expression, and a counterpoint to the prevailing aesthetic in gallery branding. BBH Studio’s design team drew upon the spirit, grit, and radical energy of East London and the Gallery’s deep community roots.

The VI will be introduced as part of the wider preview of Whitechapel Gallery’s high-profile 125th-anniversary year, encompassing a bold programme of exhibitions and events, that continue a legacy of agenda-setting activity and a commitment to supporting new voices and perspectives that explore some of the key concerns and issues of our times.

The creative vision: radical expression for a radical space

The core creative challenge was to design an identity that pays homage to the Gallery’s ground breaking 125-year history of radical activism and community engagement while signalling a confident direction for the future.

The 125 identity is built on the idea that Whitechapel Gallery is continually leading and redefining what it means to be a public institution – especially in today’s rapidly changing landscape. The resulting design system is deliberately expressive and dynamic and draws on collaborative and community led modes of engagement. A key feature of the design takes the idea of signature and handwriting as a form of visual language which erupts across the work to create layouts that are unapologetically alive, fusing past and present to carve out a future-facing design framework.

• The Mark: The core logo merges two historical references: a British Art Nouveau-inspired serif, drawn from the gallery's listed facade, with the current typeface, Whitechapel Bold. This "stamp mark" nods to the institution's extraordinary heritage while bringing it confidently into the present.
• The Palette: The design utilises striking colour palettes and structures that echo the Whitechapel Gallery’s unceasing spirit, celebrating where the institution has come from and pushing towards what’s next. A minimal base is punctuated by a surge of electric blue. This is the colour of progress and clarity, providing a digital counterpoint to the raw, textured elements of the identity.
• The Voice: Crucially, the system is populated by the community itself, delivering a vibrant, collective expression of creativity. Through workshops, BBH Studios collected hundreds of expressive, mixed-media "125" lockups and "The World in Whitechapel" visuals created by staff, artists, patrons, visitors and partners both local and global. These direct assets introduce a DIY edge that echoes the gallery’s history of activism, ensuring the community is the beating heart of the work.

The new identity includes a toolkit covering typefaces, usage, sizing, and a comprehensive colour palette for seamless deployment across print, digital, outdoor signage, and motion.

The project is a standout showcase for BBH Studios, which blends strategic thinking with expertise across design, music, film and photography production, social and full-service studio production.

​Stephen Ledger-Lomas, chief production officer, BBH Studios, commented, “Whitechapel Gallery’s brief for BBH Studios represented a remarkable opportunity to work with the visionary team leading one of the UK’s first publicly funded galleries; revitalising its radical history, by designing a bold new visual identity that looks forward to the next 125 years.

“Using BBH Studio’s four step Design process we delved deep into the shared beliefs of the gallery’s artists, stakeholders and audience, creating a logo and design system that merges the Art Nouveau character of the listed façade with the current typeface: Whitechapel Bold. The results nod to the extraordinary heritage, whilst firmly looking ahead to a brave new future.”

Gilane Tawadros, director, Whitechapel Gallery added, “We wanted a fresh, stand-out graphic framework to give both context and direction to this significant anniversary and BBH Studios have given us something truly special and that exceeds all our expectations. Whitechapel Gallery was founded in 1901 to ‘bring the finest art of the world to the people of East London’. Over the years it has been responsible for championing some of the most radical and influential artists, art and ideas of our times and pushing the boundaries of what a locally embedded gallery can do. The identity BBH delivered is the result of deep research and engagement with staff, trustees and a range of stakeholders from artists to visitors, to ensure the values and vision of the organisation were fully expressed. We are profoundly grateful for the insight, rigour and creative generosity shown – and couldn’t be more delighted with their design, which draws on the rich legacy of the Gallery while signalling a clear evolution; a confident, vibrant and expressive vision for the future.”

The 125 identity has launched publicly as the Gallery unveils its anniversary year programme.