Howdy revamps the identity of St Martin-in-the-Fields

Howdy has designed a new brand identity for St Martin-in-the-Fields – a church, café, and organisation that supports the homeless and vulnerable in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Howdy was appointed in February following a three-way credentials presentation.

Neil Smith, founding partner and design director at Howdy, says, ’It had a huge revamp of the whole place. Now that’s complete it wanted to bring its identity into line with that and reflect the changes.’

The new visual identity is based on the story of St Martin of Tours, a Roman soldier who shared his cloak with Christ, who had taken the form of a beggar.

Howdy used a ’torn cloak’ graphic to reflect the ’frayed’ lives of those the organisation helps, and a red palette, referencing the Roman soldier’s uniform. The modern typography aims to reflect the organisation’s innovative outlook.

The consultancy created extensive brand guidelines on applying the new identity, which will be used across all materials, including concert posters, church materials, café and gift shop promotions, uniforms and signage.

Howdy worked closely with the board of trustees to ensure that the identity was relevant to all parts of the organisation.

Smith says that a key part of the brief was to create an identity that would be easily implemented by St Martin’s in-house design team, while lowering costs by using one colour.

Vicar Reverend Nicholas Holtam says, ’We now have an identity which captures, for us and others, the spirit and story of St Martin’s and enable us to visually unify the whole organisation.’

Howdy will continue to work with St Martin-in-the-Fields to assist with the implementation of the identity, which will be launched on 14 November.