FILM LONDON

Creating a hand-made identity to celebrate a British visionary

We were commissioned by Film London to create a brand identity for the Jarman Award. Launched in 2008, the award is named after British artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman, and each year recognises emerging artists working with moving image. Nominees also produce a short film for Channel 4’s arts strand, Random Acts.

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Brand strategy • Visual identity • Photography • marketing materials

Jarman typographic logo
Large Jarman logo crafted out of wood sits outside on a shingle beach next to a row boat
Photo of a creative designer painting the Jarman logo
Over the should shot of a creative designer constructing the Jarman logo out of wood

From the outset, we felt that the identity had to be something that embodied the spirit of Derek Jarman and his work: experimentation, innovation and imagination. Our focus was creating a visual icon that would become a strong feature of the award’s identity. We created a logotype inspired by the artist’s black and yellow cottage on the beach in Dungeness, Kent. 

Close up of the large scale A from the Jarman logo lying on a beach

Made from cladding board, we built meter-high letters spelling the word ‘Jarman’ and painted them black and yellow, producing a physical identity that only lives as a 3D, tactile device. We used black cladding for the main stroke width of the type and yellow beading for the horizontal bars of the A’s. 

A cropped photo of the large Jarman wooden logo sitting inside a warehouse

The letters are placed in a different location each year and photographed to create a new series of campaign images. The identity also forms the key signage for the award ceremony. Since 2009, it has travelled to a variety of locations, including the Dungeness site that inspired the look and feel.

A close up of the wooden Jarman logo sitting on the beach outside a large warehouse

The Jarman Award is now in its tenth year. The key to the success of the identity is that it is hand-made and only exists in its singular wooden format. There is no digital suite of assets. For most of the year, it lives in our studio, taking pride of place on our walls, but comes out every autumn to promote the award.

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