Brighton & Hove’s museum service reveals new name

Brighton & Hove’s museum service, previously known as the Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, has unveiled a new name and brand identity.

The service will now be known as Brighton & Hove Museums and has launched a refreshed website and logo.

The previously council-run service moved to trust status in late 2020. The organisation says the redesign is intended to “communicate the direction being taken across the service since the museums became an independent charitable trust”.

Two of the trust’s sites have also been renamed to recognise the importance of their outdoor spaces to visitors.

The Royal Pavilion will now be known as the Royal Pavilion & Garden, and Preston Manor will be known as Preston Manor & Gardens “to recognise that vibrant outdoor spaces are an integral part of the overall visitor experience”.

The brand identity and website were created by Brighton-based creative agency Baxter & Bailey. The agency interviewed Brighton & Hove Museums staff, visitors and stakeholders from a variety of community groups, whose responses and ideas were used to influence both the visual aspect of the branding as well as written communications.

The trust’s new brand identity is centred around a logo based on the ampersand (&) symbol, which was inspired by the fact Brighton & Hove is the only city in the UK with an ampersand in its name.

The trust says: “The & symbol also represents the inclusive nature of the city and its residents as well as the museum service itself, whose mission is to provide an outstanding, diverse and inclusive service to all residents of the city and beyond. The bespoke & symbol has been carefully drawn with six component parts, representing six destinations – five physical and one digital – that make up Brighton & Hove Museums.”

The physical venues overseen by the trust are Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Booth Museum of Natural History, Hove Museum & Art Gallery, Royal Pavilion & Garden, and Preston Manor & Gardens.

CEO of Brighton & Hove Museums, Hedley Swain, said: “Although the Royal Pavilion is our most famous site, we have five brilliant venues all offering something different to the residents of Brighton & Hove and visitors from elsewhere. As a service we want to celebrate all our sites and the diverse but inclusive nature of Brighton & Hove. We think local design agency Baxter & Bailey have done an excellent job capturing our values in the new brand.”

Design director of Baxter & Bailey, Rory Brady, said: “I was born in Brighton and have lived a significant chunk of my life here, and I know these venues intimately. So the opportunity to help shape their future was a bit of a dream project. It felt important for our team to design a solution that was open and inclusive, actively welcoming the broadest and widest possible audiences. We also wanted to ensure that all of the venues felt connected and part of a family. I think we've achieved just that.”