CH JGH

Celebrating 100 years of independent thinking

Chatham House is an influential, ideas-driven organisation with a track record of independent research and trusted dialogue. For a century they have fostered mutual understanding between nations through ideas, debate and rigorous analysis. Approaching their centenary year in 2020, they asked us to redesign their brand to broaden the appeal and provide visual consistency across digital and analogue platforms.

CH Exterior 80

Broadening the appeal

To create a distinct and far-reaching brand, we ran a survey to understand how Chatham House was perceived by audiences around the world. The results highlighted the strong connection to the name Chatham House and their historic reputation as a trusted think tank. But the survey responses also revealed an opportunity to position the brand as more dynamic, inclusive and collaborative.

Digging into the history

A search through the famous Chatham House library uncovered old copies of publications dating back nearly 100 years. We found past logos using the royal connection in the form of a crest or crown, when the official name was ‘The Royal Institute of International Affairs’. The informal name Chatham House widely adopted today refers to their headquarters in St James’s Square, London, the home of three previous Prime Ministers.

Scan 10
Scan 1
Scan 15
Scan 13
Scan 4
Scan 6
Scan 14
Scan 7
Scan 18
Scan 12

A brand for digital

As the audience research showed, it was crucial to preserve something of the legacy of Chatham House. Between 1987 and 2013, a globe with two talking heads had been used as the logo, neatly conveying the Institute’s ambition to provoke international debate. Taking this as inspiration we commissioned La Tigre to draw a modern iteration better suited to digital.
CH old globe 2x
CH globe explorations 2x
CH final globe 2x
Logo
Colours
Type 1
CH Rule

We paired the new logo with a bold, contemporary typeface – Calibre – and a vibrant palette of colours and blends. Together with a shift towards a simpler, clearer tone of voice, we crafted a brand experience to work across all Chatham House touch points.

Ch brand social
CH social blue
CH social green
CH social pink

Applications

A key objective of the rebrand was to better integrate on and offline applications. We developed extensive print and digital guidelines covering publications, maps, charts and graphs.

CH Report Cover D
CH Report Cover B
CH Report Cover A
CH Spreads
CH map guides 2
CH Libya map
CH Iraq map
CH forest loss map
CH brand charts 1
CH brand charts 2
East New Britain colorised
Forest Mobile 1 governance
Forest Mobile 3 pie
Forest Mobile 1 3 bars
Forest Mobile 2 bars
Forest Mobile 4 sankey
2 Strengthening Law Enforcement For Forests
3 Reform Of The Informal Sector

Illustration

Our work on the Forest Governance & Legality microsite and Tribes of Europe, winner of a Digital Communication Award in Berlin in 2018, has provided an opportunity to support the new brand through commissioned illustration by Charlotte Ager and Belle Mellor.

EU Rejectors
Austerity Rebels
Hesitant Europeans
Frustrated pro Europeans
Contented Europeans
Federalists
Applied Works have truly delivered on the key challenges that came out of the brand surveys – to broaden our appeal and make our work more accessible, dynamic and engaging.

Amanda Moss Head of Publishing and Brand, Chatham House

Mnuchin 12
Journalist Sanctions 43 AC

A new era

In 2020, Chatham House celebrated its centenary and launched the new brand in what proved to be a tumultuous year for international affairs. By working closely with the Chatham House team, we were able to deliver a fresh and colourful brand with the gravitas to lead them into their second century.

CH flag4