The District helps get art into the shop window
Cambridge-based consultancy The District has created an identity for Cambridge City Council’s Changing Spaces initiative, which aims to put art in empty shop windows across the city.
The Changing Spaces project stems from former Communities Secretary Hazel Blears’ announcement that the Government would provide up to £3m in funding to temporarily convert empty high street shops into social enterprises, art displays or learning centres, in a bid to combat the decline of the high street.
Alun Shooter, partner at The District, says the consultancy was appointed directly to the work about a month ago, through a contact at the council.
He says The District was tasked to create an identity that suggested energy, but was flexible enough to appeal to a number of stakeholders and to be used in a variety of windows across the city with different artistic backdrops.
Shooter says, ‘The primary application will be on windows, which will differ across the city. A slash device in the identity can be used flexibly in fluid spaces.’
The identity will initially be used on about 15-20 windows across the city, from 6 July. It will also be used on a website and literature currently being developed by The District.
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I’ve seen these designs in the Cambridge exhibitions and they make a real difference to the look of these empty shops. Previously dull and dirty, they are suddenly made energetic, professional and cohesive. The project is superb.