V&A Dundee: Tartan

V&A Dundee required us to create an identity and set of campaign assets to tell a dynamic and surprising story of one of the world’s best known textiles with the aim to celebrate and challenge our relationship to tartan at this moment in Scotland’s history.

Through videography and digital platforms, we aimed to connect with various audience groups identified by the V&A Dundee and make emotional connections on what tartan means to them whether through nostalgia, education, humour or intrigue.

We explored the origins of tartan’s design, focussing on its central grid formation, as well as the process of colour selection – traditionally determined by the local landscape. Using these ideas, we created an identity building on tartan’s history in a contemporary way, inspired by friction and energy found throughout the exhibition.

We looked at imagery and the grid and how to reimagine tartan in an adaptable way. Our system allows the audience to engage with tartan at a subliminal and emotional level, while carrying a sense of history including the dynamic expansion of this fantastic material through the use of modern and distinctive image treatments and motion.

We broke apart the existing typeface and explored styles and weights to create an identity that was adaptable and playful. We believe this is a natural reflection of tartan itself, unique and individual yet pertaining to the family system. This allowed us to create a truly reflective style referencing the variability of the tartan and retaining the ability to be truly expressive.

We created a brand film, travelling all over Scotland interviewing a range of people from members of the public, masters of the trade such as Lochcarron to designers, disruptors and Hollywood stars, including Billy Connolly and Alan Cumming.

Motion alongside videography was vital in bringing the exhibition to life. We collaborated with Glasgow based motion designer Tiernan Crilley in reimagining the grid and created a suite of assets for use on social media graphics, internal exhibition screens as well as part of the brand film to build the hype around the upcoming exhibition.

We wanted music that continued the traditional/ radical culture clash theme and found this in the electro-celt music of Niteworks providing the aural heartbeat to the campaign.

The final result was an identity that truly encapsulated all that Tartan stands for, unique and individual, yet pertaining to the family system.