We’re often covering rebrands that are clever, witty or striking. More rarely, one comes along that is truly beautiful – and the new Royal Horticultural Society rebranding totally is. We want to hang a poster series on our wall immediately.
Based on botanical illustrations from the RHS archive, the sumptuous artwork was created by illustrator Paul ‘Dessy’ Desmond and is integrated with an ad strategy entitled We Speak Plant. It is so good it could be heading straight for our best poster designs list.
London agency Design Bridge(opens in new tab) spearheaded the project, in collaboration with ad agency Wunderman-Thompson(opens in new tab), and RHS(opens in new tab) itself. Based on ‘the limitless wonder of growth’, the rebrand aimed to bring consistency to the RHS brand to enable it to stand proudly alongside other UK heritage brands.
We can’t stop staring at the layers of rich colour, which are cleverly interwoven with areas of shadow and lightness. The illustrations feel classic yet eye-catching and sit against the new typography, comprised of a variety of fonts, created by Rob Clarke (inspired by plant labels). A clever use of motion design (below) encapsulates the ever-changing nature of… well, nature, and the life and growth found in a garden.
The intricate RHS rebrand is a smash hit, proving how stunning artwork can be utilised in an ad campaign (without even a whiff of flat design – hurrah). It’s safe to say it couldn’t be more different to the other design story of the day – Kanye does Maccy D’s, which is both baffling and boring, in equal parts.
