Modern Designers x Whitworth Art Gallery

We were pleased to be able to lend our window space to the Whitworth Art Gallery and Modern Designers for their ad campaign in the run-up to the Whitworth re-opening. We found out a little bit about the idea behind the campaign.

The concept behind the Whitworth's window display was developed by the design and branding agency, Modern Designers. It is based on the gallery's graphic identity, which was created by Peter Saville, Paul Barnes and the gallery's own Ian Smith, and then developed by Modern Designers. The window features the Whitworth's screw thread line - that big neon zig-zag, which is actually a straight line bent at a 55-degree angle - and this line reflects a little bit of Whitworth history: the 55-degree angle was part of a national standard that the industrial revolutionist Sir Joseph Whitworth set for screw threads (and nuts and bolts) back in the 19th century.

Sir Joseph's act was a relatively simple one but, until he set the standard, nuts and bolts and screw threads came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Standardising them revolutionised British manufacturing because it enabled the mass production of everything from boat engines to railway lines - and it was one of several engineering innovations that made Sir Joseph Whitworth a very wealthy man. It was Sir Joseph's fortune that, of course, first founded the Whitworth back in 1889, and as the gallery prepares to open its doors again after an eighteen month, £15 million development,

Modern Designers thought it fitting that the gallery's new visual identity - and the advertising campaign that the Northern Quarter studio also came up with - reflected some of its industrial history. Don't miss out on the spectacular opening weekend which features event for all the family.                        Images: Modern Designers Instagram.