‘One Oldham’ branding is launched by Hemisphere
Manchester-based Hemisphere has unveiled its visual identity for Oldham, after being given the green light by the parties behind the town’s rebranding project earlier this week.
The branding focuses on bringing together all the diverse communities and landscapes that exist across the area, embracing the many individual towns, communities, generations and cultures that make up Oldham.
Explaining the rationale behind the new identity, the agency say the circle badge acts as “a symbol of unity” while the colour gives Oldham “a high recognition factor.” The distinctive typeface is said to represent Oldham’s “down to earth and practical” character.
Hemisphere director Sue Vanden said: “We wanted to communicate that Oldham is a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. We have worked to create one coherent brand while, at the same time, recognising that there needs to be flexibility to present what Oldham is about to a wide variety of audiences.
“A single slogan would not be appropriate so we have developed a range of phrases in a particular style, such as ‘many places, one direction’ or ‘many cultures, one community’.
Vanden said this flexible approach would help appeal to residents and districts of Oldham where work needs to be done to overturn negative perceptions.
Oldham Council chief executive, Andrew Kilburn, added: “We see the new brand as being a positive platform from which we can look forward and start getting Oldham’s message across to the outside world.”
Implementation of the new identity is now in planning. The new brand will be implemented gradually over time and should start to appear from early summer onwards.
Hemisphere has also been responsible for developing brand identities for Salford, Sunderland and most recently, Bolton.