British Museum announces details of £150k rebrand project

The British Museum has revealed plans to review and reimagine its brand as part of its ‘masterplan’ to transform the organisation.

The London institution is seeking to create a new “visual/vocal” identity alongside major construction projects that include the redesign of a third of its gallery spaces as well as the creation of new visitor and research and storage facilities.

The £150,000 tender for the rebrand project states: “Increasing activity around the museum’s masterplan and the arrival of a new museum director in 2024 makes now the right moment to consider our vision and values, review our brand and move forward with a compelling new approach to how we communicate and present ourselves.”

Former National Portrait Gallery director Nicholas Cullinan joined the organisation last spring following the departure of previous British Museum director Hartwig Fischer, who stepped down after revelations that thousands of artefacts from the institution had been stolen.

The tender brief for the nine-month project says the museum is looking for “a clear system that conveys the brand idea and narrative” that is “flexible and adaptable” and “rooted in our vision and values” and can be applied to internal and external products and services for audiences locally, nationally, and globally.

An agency has already been commissioned to undertake a brand audit and create a new brand strategy for the first phase of the project. The deadline to apply for the stage 2 contract is 3 February 2025.