Michael Nash crafts CAA identity

A new home for the country’s largest selection of contemporary crafts is to be opened on Tuesday by Mark Fisher MP, co-chairman of the parliamentary All Party Group on Design.

Contemporary Applied Arts’ new central London premises is designed by Allies & Morrison Architects and the CAA’s new graphic identity is by Michael Nash Associates.

CAA’s previous space in Covent Garden was often “overlooked by a lot of interested people because we weren’t obvious enough”, explains director Mary La Trobe-Bateman, who also designs the CAA’s exhibitions.

The architect has removed the ground floor of the building in Percy Street, so the entire 3000m2 gallery can be seen from street level.”We show state-of-the-art, cutting edge designs, unlike an average craft shop,” she says.

Michael Nash Associates was approached as a result of its food packaging for Harvey Nichols.

The logo, which will be adapted to show different hands at regular intervals, shows a craftsman’s hands, the “only element all crafts disciplines have in common”, says La Trobe-Bateman. The sans serif typeface is designed to aid the visually impaired.