Rabbithole celebrates the power of Bradfordians in their identity for the UK City of Culture 2025

Bradford, a jewel nestled in West Yorkshire, is steeped in industrial heritage. Notably, it played a pivotal role in the UK’s textile production, particularly wool, during the industrial revolution. Navigating through a labyrinth of economic and social adversities, Bradford has since emerged as an economic titan in the region. This city, a testament to resilience and transformation, is not just an economic dynamo but also a cultural melting pot. This is affirmed by its recognition as the UK’s 2025 City of Culture, a homage to its vibrant cultural diversity.

The UK City of Culture title has unarguably brought about revolutionary changes in previous host cities, securing investment of millions of pounds while serving as a powerful catalyst for innovative place-making and regeneration led by culture. Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture is no exception; it is set to be a transformative event for the district, with over 1,000 new performances, events, and artist commissions planned. As the first UK City of Culture to be a district-wide celebration, it will highlight Bradford’s unique identity, its history as a textile industry hub, and its diverse population. The event will encompass the district’s 140 square miles, including the UNESCO Heritage Site Saltaire and the city of Bradford itself, the world’s first UNESCO City of Film.

Its brand identity, designed by the team at Leeds-based design studio Rabbithole, breaks the mould of ‘city of culture’ branding with a visual language that steers clear of anything disingenuously sleek or pristine. Instead, it is striking, engaging and ‘unapologetically Bradford.’ Inspired by the city and “the warmth, unfiltered honesty, idiosyncratic character, and sharp humour of Bradfordians” the new identity authentically represents the spirit of Bradford and is a celebration of its diversity, creativity, and distinct charm. “Bradford is not its affluent big brother to the east, Leeds, nor is it Manchester or York,” emphasises Creative Director Tim Dee. “It’s Bradford – eclectic, unfiltered, and thrilling. Bradford exists on its own terms, and the identity reinforces that.”

Instead of area names, Bradfordians are unique in using the ‘BD’ postcode to identify where they are from. The logo is a clever twist on this unique ‘BD’ postcode identifier, with a ‘b’ and a ‘d’ intersecting at 45 degrees to form a heart when viewed from different angles. Likewise, the logo’s mix of straight and curved edges also calls to Bradford’s intriguing dichotomy – its serene countryside landscapes versus bustling cityscapes, its status as home to UNESCO heritage sites whilst simultaneously nurturing a burgeoning community of digital innovators. “It’s a positive symbol carefully designed to work across a broad range of touchpoints,” Dee adds. “We wanted to create a simple, distinct, and unifying symbol that Bradfordians could download, wear, stencil onto their street bins, and stick in their windows.”

For the brand’s typography, Rabbithole employs the full spectrum of Displaay’s Denim INK weights, resulting in an impressive degree of flexibility. “With bold, sturdy letterforms reminiscent of factory signage, the typeface connects Bradford’s contemporary identity and its historical roots as a textile industry powerhouse,” Dee notes. The typeface shines in the smaller dimensions of body copy, yet effortlessly stands out in larger, bolder formats – perfect for headlines and posters.

Subverting the usual approach to ‘city of culture’ branding – whereby designs typically focus on a combination of bright colours and variations of flat shapes – Rabbithole drew their attention to other visual references and sources of inspiration. And in terms of media, “we explored other graphical devices, such as 3D, typography, and collage,” Dee tells us. A series of warped digital patterns is one such output, inspired by visual collages of Bradford made by the Rabbithole team. “Bradford District feels like a collage to us, it’s an unpredictable mix of cultural activity, local characters, and contrasting landscapes. The digital patterns grew as an evolution of these collages as we experimented with motion.”

Rabbithole chose a distinctive three-colour scheme consisting of gold, green, and baby pink, all imbued with meaning. The gold is inspired by the Bradford City strip and the sunlit sandstone architecture of the city, the green is a nod to the district’s rural landscapes and domed mosques, and the baby pink encapsulates Bradford’s humour, playfulness, and peculiarity. This unusual combination provides Bradford with a unique palette, which is applied to the ‘Bradford Glow’ – a framing device that can be wrapped around content in all forms.

As a cohesive brand image, the identity is designed to foster a sense of unity among its residents, uniting the district under the umbrella of ‘one Bradford.’ Versatile and accessible, Bradfordians can easily use the identity, ensuring that they can take ownership of the brand and apply it in their own ways. “We designed the identity so the people of Bradford can adopt and use it themselves, making it more open and democratic and less top-down or tightly controlled,” Dee notes. “The logo can be freely downloaded from the Bradford 2025 website, the colour scheme is simple and easy to appropriate, and we’re currently building tools and templates to enable a wide range of people across the district to use it.” This approach truly emphasises the spirit of community engagement and guarantees that Bradford 2025’s brand is a shared, living emblem of the district’s vibrant, diverse, and forward-thinking culture.

Rabbithole