New look for Museum of Childhood

The Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood, located in London’s Bethnal Green, is redesigning its brand identity for the first time in more than 20 years.

The museum is also on the hunt for design consultancies to work on graphics and signage and is expecting to ‘talk’ with about six groups. Selected groups will be tasked with creating all communication material and interpretative text throughout the museum.

‘They will create everything you see when you walk through the door,’ explains a spokeswoman for the museum.

The museum appointed the V&A design team last year to develop a brand that will reflect the local community, and be more aligned with the V&A’s overall group identity.

The identity is expected to launch in March and will run across all print publicity, corporate stationery and a redesigned website, due to launch in the autumn.

The identity is still being developed, but the Noah’s ark logo, used since the museum opened, may be scrapped due to its ‘biblical image’, says a spokeswoman for the Museum of Childhood.

She explains that the current brand identity is ‘bitty’ because it developed in a ‘haphazard’ way over the years.

The museum, located in Bethnal Green, recently received £3.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund to complete the second stage of its refurbishment scheme (DW 13 January). Architect Caruso St John is working on the scheme, developing a new learning centre, ‘innovative’ galleries and interactive displays that will be located on the mezzanine level.

Work begins this month and will be completed by January 2007.