Our Client is an established Architect with a large contemporary art collection who has bought, repaired and converted a disused 1936 Methodist Church into a vibrant community arts venue. The area and region is one of the most deprived in the country due to loss of industry and opportunity which poses particular obstacles to engaging in the arts. Our client however had a fantastic free education 1967-1974 at Ilkeston Grammar School which enabled him to study Architecture at Leicester Polytechnic and have a great career establishing a 200 strong architecture practice with studios in 4 countries. He was dismayed to read the 2005 front page Independent newspaper article about his home town’s struggles with crime, deprivation and drugs under the banner headline “Cracktown” The desire to do something to spread the hope, optimism and encouragement which he received from inspirational teachers to the new generation in the community has led to the establishment of Ilkeston Contemporary Arts and the reactivation of a beautiful but neglected historic building incorporating sustainable green technologies.
Our Client funds a full time Artist in Residence to engage with the local community and demystify the world of creative contemporary arts. The organisation is established in 5 “Boards”. Art, Film, Music, Theatre and Events. Each with a specialist expert Chair responsible for establishing an engaging programme in their own field. In addition there is a manager of both the café and the shop. It was important to the Client that the branding was developed to distinguish these activities so that each can apply for funding and grants without compromising or competing with the others. His brief to us was to help make contemporary art relevant and exciting in this challenging environment using the website to engage and social media to promote.
There is so much noise on social media we decided to make our website and Instagram compelling by being a bit quieter – sophisticated and interesting. We need to engage a wide audience.

The first step was to establish a name around which the branding strategy could develop. The communications need to suit an inclusive diverse audience many of which have not been engaged in the world of contemporary art previously.
The project title Ilkeston Contemporary Arts was too long and snappier abbreviations such as iCon, Ikon, i-KON all seemed too generic or forced. Through literary research we discovered that Ilkon was an old English word meaning “all men or everyone” and was used by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Second Nun’s Tale about the life of Saint Cecilia. By coincidence Cecilia is depicted in one of the beautiful stained glass windows in the church. This became the basis of the branding strategy drawing on the iconography but interpreted in a contemporary way fitting with the project aims and building on an inclusive and cohesive theme. For the logo the head and shoulders of Saint Cecilia are incorporated into the O of “ILKON”. This is then developed across the whole branding strategy to include the whole of the body on ‘t’ shirts and aprons for café and colleagues. The typical dictionary description appearance, which many are familiar with, enables the individual “Boards” ;- Art, Film, Music, Theatre and Event to be identified using italics in a unique colour which is carried through to the business cards, letterhead and website. The 5 “Boards” have linked colours of greys whilst the shop and café are more colourful. This runs through to the website where monotone images turn to colour in an engaging and intriguing manner. The engagement and feedback has been excellent.

The interest and enthusiasm in the venture has been amazing. It has generated publicity on BBC East Midlands TV, BBC Radio Derby, and in print the ‘Derbyshire Times’ and ‘Ilkeston Life’. The building has won the Gold Award in the International Interior Design Awards 2022 for Best Public Building and is currently shortlisted as a Finalist in the Cultural Enterprises Awards. All the 5 Chairs of the “Boards” are busy organising a varied mix of events with the community ensuring something for everyone throughout the year including dance, a film festival, photo competitions, street art and local history based workshops. The distinct brand identity is helping these connections stressing synergy through similarity and autonomy through individuality. The Client commented “The designers have interpreted my brief brilliantly, I couldn’t be more pleased. To have researched the whole Saint Cecilia story makes it truly unique and creating something based on heritage yet updated and modern fits exactly with what I am trying to do”

The visitors have also been generous in their comments

“I’m absolutely loving everything you’re doing at the gallery.
My parents visited last week and haven’t stopped talking about it”
Deb Collighan DCHair Design Ilkeston

“A wonderful and generous gift to Ilkeston”
The Mayor of Erewash Councillor John Sewell

“It is truly amazing”
Dr Mitchell Former Head Ilkeston School

“A great act of patronage”
Richard Short Ilkeston Resident

“The whole experience was wonderful…
I’m coming back with my children next week”
Yvonne Bloor West Hallam

“a fantastic addition to our community arts”
Councillor James Dawson

“Fantastic to see someone giving back to the community”
Ian Shaw Ilkeston

“I love the way the branding draws on the heritage of the building yet ties in the contemporary art theme. It all goes together, building, brand and activities”
Jane Shepperd Ilkeston

“An amazing local resource”
Helen Dawes Heanor

Fascinating experience. Excellent communication with Cara. -Jean Jones

An extremely interesting journey into understanding and appreciating art. So enthusiastic and inspirational. Good luck with this endeavour. -Gavin Jones

An amazing experience for the second time. Saw lots of things I missed last time. So good to have a total experience to be able to discuss and question what we were seeing. Macara was so helpful and interesting sharing her passion for the whole project. Looking forward to coming again when the next exhibition has been curated. WOW! -Steve

Wonderfully Bonkers! Just what Ilkeston needs to re-enliven the community. – Peter Burke

A fantastic space to show contemporary art. Very Welcoming and interesting–Ilkeston is fortunate to have such a fabulous gallery. I will come again-often! –Tony Fletcher

“This is a brand new venture that we visited for the first time. The host was excellent spending lots of time to explain the concept and exhibition items. The current exhibition centres around refugees from Ukraine and their stories. It’s difficult to put these into words but a sense of loss, pride and hope are ones I would choose. It’s really great to see someone investing so much in Ilkeston. I hope it thrives.”
Steve Briggs Local resident

“I started by sharing with Susanne and Francesca some of my thoughts on brand identity looking at examples such as FedEx, PanAm, Paul Smith, Apple, Adidas. The most relevant perhaps was Virgin as they have multiple companies under one umbrella. I have to say I’m blown away by what they have designed. It has exactly the right balance of heritage and contemporary design to make sense of the whole project. It is something that the community will identify with and take to their hearts.”
Chris Williamson ILKON Director