LONDON.- Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration has today unveiled a new visual identity designed by Fraser Muggeridge studio as part of a major capital development project.

Visual arts charity House of Illustration has changed its name to Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration as part of a £12 million capital project to create a new permanent site at New River Head in Clerkenwell, London.

43% of the fundraising target has already been reached, and planning permission was recently granted for the New River Head scheme. The balance is set to be raised through individual donations, grants from trusts and foundations and a public fundraising campaign that will enable restoration work to begin next year, with the Centre opening in 2024.

Illustrator Quentin Blake founded the charity in 2002 to champion illustration in UK public arts spaces. The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will become the national centre for the art form, with galleries, a learning studio and project space, public gardens, a shop and a café. It will become the home of Blake’s 40,000+ work archive, with a permanent gallery for exhibiting his work.

The Centre will be housed at New River Head, a complex of 18th-and 19th-century industrial heritage buildings – a windmill base, pump rooms and adjacent stores - that were an integral part of London’s clean water infrastructure. Currently derelict, the site is being restored with award-winning practice Tim Ronalds Architects and is due to open in 2024.

Quentin Blake says: “I am enormously proud to have my name associated with this international home for an art which I know and love, and for artists who speak in a myriad of visual languages but are understood by all. It is going to be amazing.”




Centre Director Lindsey Glen says: “We are excited to adopt a new name that reflects a major shift in our ambition and offer. Before we were a ‘house’ for illustration: a place where people could come to see an exhibition or take part in a project. The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will be a sustainable part of its local community, a destination for a varied day out and the hub of a UK-wide programme of exhibitions and schools’ projects.”

The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration visual identity is by London-based graphic design company Fraser Muggeridge studio. It is inspired by New River Head’s industrial buildings and the printing heritage of its location in Clerkenwell.

The foundation of the identity are two typefaces by Commercial Type: Caslon Doric Antique No. 6. These typefaces are revivals of 19th-century fonts by the Caslon foundry, which was located on Chiswell Street, less than a mile away from New River Head. The studio’s update pays homage to the original letterforms while having a contemporary look and feel. A versatile palette of vibrant greens, complimented by pink, orange, yellow and blue, plays on traditional industrial heritage colours and the site’s future as an urban green space.

Centre Artistic Director Olivia Ahmad says: “Fraser Muggeridge and Manon Veyssière have created an identity with its roots in analogue making and print - where illustration first flourished and still lives - but that fully flexes to our digital needs. It is distinct but subtle: it prioritises the work of illustrators and is flexible enough to frame the diverse range of approaches that we will continue to champion.”

Fraser Muggeridge says: “We designed an identity that is both accessible – through the custom changes made to the typefaces – and flexible enough to serve the print, digital and onsite needs of the Centre. The association of Caslon Doric Condensed and Antique No. 6, paired with the colour palette, gives the Centre a bold, strong, yet playful look.”

The visual identity is launched with a new website developed by Birmingham-based studio An Endless Supply. Fraser Muggeridge studio will now be working on the wayfinding signage and other onsite applications for the identity in dialogue with Tim Ronalds Architects.

Discover more about Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration at qbcentre.org.uk and stay connected with all the latest news via Instagram and Twitter @qbcentre