Agenda’s show identity waits Below Stairs

Agenda is awaiting sign off this week for its brand identity for National Portrait Gallery exhibition Below Stairs, which is scheduled to open in October.

The group was appointed in December 2002 to the project, which includes marketing and print material, ranging from banners and posters to Private View invitations and advertising, in addition to the identity.

It presented first stage concepts at the end of January.

Below Stairs will feature a collection of servants’ and domestic employees’ portraits from the past 400 years, working for employers from modest households to royal courts. Sitters include gardeners, grooms and estate workers.

The proposed marque features typography split over two lines to represent the physical shape of stairs, says Agenda director Paul Davis. The promotional literature will feature both single images and collections of paintings.

‘With poster work, a single image is the most effective,’ he says. ‘We have to make sure that the images we choose are obviously of servants.’

Agenda was appointed to the project without a pitch as it is on the NPG’s design roster.