Ruskin: Artist and Observer

Delivering an iconic exhibition identity for one of Britain's greatest art figures.

John Ruskin was one of the nineteenth century’s most renowned art critics but what was less well-known about him is that he produced a vast body of his own art in his lifetime. We created the identity and designed the campaign materials for John Ruskin: Artist and Observer, an exhibition at the The National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.

The exhibition identity makes use of a sophisticated, bespoke wordmark of the artists surname. This flexible device became a window in specific application, through which the audience could view the highly detailed and varied subject matter of Ruskin own body of work while also acting as reference to the exhibition title itself.

One of the key challenges of this exhibition campaign was to appeal to those familiar with his work while creating enough intrigue to attract a diverse audience.