This is an update of a leaflet that I first designed in 2018. The original leaflet was designed for the RSA Friends, an organisation that has subsequently been amalgamated with the Royal Scottish Academy. The RSA has recently rebranded itself with branding created by Eido Studio; I was invited to update the leaflet with the new RSA logo and designated typefaces, Usual Sans and TT Ramillas, that form part of the new branding.
Rather than re-design the leaflet from scratch, Nick Wong, the development manager at the RSA suggested that I edit the previous leaflet to include the new logo and the new typefaces alongside new images, new copy and new colours including a motif, extracted from the logo, for the coloured background. Of course, in graphic design, things are never so simple and, although much of the structure remains the same, this is essentially a new design as everything needed to be re-worked and re-sized to fit in the new typefaces.
Usual Sans is not dissimilar to Aktiv Grotesk, the typeface that I used for the previous leaflet (and for other items that I designed for the RSA) but it is interesting to see how the addition of TT Ramillas affects the tone of voice of the leaflet – Aktiv Grotesk has a warmth with subtle humanistic elements that are revealed when the letters are shown at a larger size whereas the warmth and friendliness of TT Ramillas is present even at a smaller size.
Above is the cover of the original leaflet from 2018. The burgundy colour came from the RSA Friends logo, which I also refreshed in 2018 – I was asked to keep the hand-drawn representation of the RSA building and the colour to maintain continuity with the previous iteration of the logo and print material. Although there are no specific colours defined for the new branding for the Royal Scottish Academy, the preference is for pastel colours – the pistachio green on the leaflet below was used on another piece of print and Nick was keen to use this again. I suggested several new colours, including the lilac blue seen above and, in the end, because Nick and the team at the RSA could not decide which one to go with, they printed both versions. The leaflets were delivered just in time for the opening of the RSA Annual Exhibition, an important event in the RSA calendar.
Read more about the design of the original leaflet
here.
