Beauchief Abbey Press

Branding and Book Design

Beauchief Abbey in Sheffield is part of the Church of England, but somewhat unusual in that its status as a ‘Liberty’ sees the organisation of the church undertaken by the congregation, who arrange for visiting priests to lead worship.

Background

The Abbey community already had a strong and vibrant educational programme which led to establishing a publishing venture, the Beauchief Abbey Press. The aim of the Press was to make available to a wide readership the books and teachings of renowned international scholar, Revd. Prof J W Rogerson, who regularly preached and led services at the Abbey.

TruthStudio were invited to design an identity for the publications of Beauchief Abbey Press and create a distinctive house-style to reflect its blend of traditional and modern pioneering church culture.

Our creative approach

Beauchief Abbey is unique in that it is one of the very few Anglican churches in the UK which is organised and run by its own congregation. This inspired us to develop a design strategy where each book might appear to have been designed by an individual ‘artisan’ contributor – but within a defined and consistent visual and typographical language across all the books. A ‘co-operative community’ approach, using contemporary, bold and expressive mixed media – from screenprinting to photography – pencil sketches to collage, illustrating both the spiritual and metaphysical nature of the individual titles.   

Results

A radical repackaging of the Bible and old testament teachings designed to be more accessible and engage a 21st century, contemporary audience.

Working with TruthStudio is always an enjoyable and dynamic experience. Their response to each brief means collaborating with Michael is always an inspiring part of the creative process. Confidence is established right from the start and we’ve been delighted in the work that has emerged in response. The relationship has grown over the years and TruthStudio have flexibly and thoughtfully overseen the development of the brand as it has grown. Their attention, creative range and perfect delivery have given Beauchief Abbey Press a clear and compelling voice in an extremely noisy marketplace.

Richard Parry, CEO

Project Scope

  • Brand and sub-brand creation
  • Visual identity
  • Imprint strategy
  • Book design

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