Breaking the News

Commissioned as the principle designers we also produced the graphic design and bespoke illustrations for this exhibition at the British Library which challenges the way we think about the news, how we consume it and the increasingly contentious issue of truth and trust in the media and why news matters. 

Inspired by print and digital news formats and informed by the internal architecture of the gallery we created an underlying grid from which we could push and pull two and three dimensionally. An interconnecting structural framework anchors both print and digital news platforms, connecting featured stories without overwhelming individual exhibits. This approach allowed us to accommodate a variety of items from large bound print volumes to graphically portrayed social media posts, whilst maintaining space and clarity.

We used a confident suit of graphic illustrations to create pace and meaningfully support the narrative. Throughout we wanted to stir curiosity in the same way a contemporary news publication might, offering a sense of pace and keeping the reader engaged with content. 

An abstract, illustrated map charts 500 years of news encounters and guides the visitor through the space, transitioning playfully from one theme to the next.

Our role Exhibition design / Graphic design / Illustration / Artwork