The Turner Prize, one of the world’s most recognised contemporary art awards, is hosted in Bradford for the first time—marking a significant moment for the district and for the prize itself. We worked closely with Tate and Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture; together, we designed an identity for Turner Prize 2025 that reflected the Turner Prize’s prestige while also capturing the character and spirit of Bradford, the host city.
Concept
The Turner Prize 2025 identity is rooted in fragmented and defiant beauty. Instead of showing something pristine, perfect, and whole, the design embraces imperfection. Layers of scattered circular cut-outs create glimpses of what lies beneath, rewarding those who take a closer look with moments of unexpected beauty and discovery. This becomes a visual metaphor for Bradford, a city with depth and richness that has, until now, been too often overlooked.
The idea of a “second glance” also resonated with the spirit of the Turner Prize itself. As an award that recognises artists pushing boundaries and offering new perspectives, it often asks audiences to look beyond first impressions. By unveiling only fragments at first, the identity encourages visitors to slow down and spend time with work that reveals itself gradually.
Our work for the Bradford-hosted Turner prize draws directly from conversations with local people, including a powerful image shared in a brand workshop by a young participant: ‘a flower slowly blooming out of a crack in the pavement.’ This idea – of something quietly beautiful emerging from an overlooked place – became the emotional and conceptual anchor for the visual identity.
Implementation
The implementation of the Turner Prize 2025 identity was comprehensive, encompassing out-of-home marketing and the design of the exhibition space itself, which had to do different jobs.
“We wanted a brand bold enough to turn heads in the city, but subtle enough in the exhibition to let the art speak.”
—Harriet Hudson, head of marketing at Bradford 2025.
While the fragmented layers and holes were later translated into digital 3D graphics with artist Joseph Töreki, our core focus was on making the layering and cut-outs as physical and tangible as possible across applications. Die-cut holes in the exhibition brochure reveal glimpses of artworks underneath. Wall displays are constructed from multiple stacked components instead of a single flat graphic.
In nearby Lister Park, the circular cut-outs served as wayfinding markers for a community trail, guiding visitors with bite-sized introductions to the Turner Prize as they approached the venue. In the Family Guide, the cut-outs were turned into a pair of playful, bespectacled eyes that children could pop out – an interactive detail that makes the identity feel tactile and inclusive.
Inclusivity
The Turner Prize 2025 identity is deliberately vibrant and playful, designed to resonate with a broad and diverse audience—including local Bradfordians who might not usually consider attending the Turner Prize. The challenge was clear: speak to both the artworld-initiated and the casually curious. By avoiding lofty or overly polished design tropes, the joyful Turner Prize 2025 identity invites and welcomes all who encounter it.
“There are audiences engaging with the Turner Prize in Bradford who might never have set foot in Tate – not because of distance, but because it never felt accessible to them. This brand helps bring the prize into their world,”
— Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director, Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.
The Turner Prize has welcomed 52,900+ visitors so far. With a 44% increase in visitor numbers to Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford.
