Agellus Group
Bruisyard Country Estate
DanceEast
Debach
East Suffolk Council
Greenhouses Direct
Havensfield Happy Hens
Hollow Trees Farm
Jordon Freight
Look Sideways-East
MH Goals
Marriage's the Master Millers
Moroccan National Tourist Office
Pasta Foods
Sail Loft
Suffolk County Council
The Hog Hotel
The Unruly Pig
Two Magpies Bakery Southwold
Vertas
Visit Norwich
West Suffolk College
Wolff-Evans
eats
Agellus Group
Benjamin Franklin House
Bentwaters Parks
Booja-Booja
British Racing School
Bruisyard Country Estate
Circus Hassani
Cottage Holidays
DBA
DanceEast
Gough Hotels
Greenhouses Direct
Havensfield Happy Hens
Haverhill Arts Centre
Hollow Trees Farm
Hopkins Homes
Jordon Freight
MH Goals
Marriage's the Master Millers
Moroccan National Tourist Office
Seachange Arts
Smart Garden Offices
The Original Cottage Company
Visit Suffolk
Client
Cromwell Museum
Project
Brand: “pimples, warts and everything”
Objective
Examine and express the brand essence of The Cromwell Museum through a new design approach, after it became independent from Cambridgeshire County Council
Results
- A new stripped-down aesthetic for this small but important museum, reflecting the character of Oliver Cromwell and his times
Oliver Cromwell, one of the most significant and polarising figures in British political history, reputedly told his portraitist: “Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts and everything as you see me, otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it.”
The Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon, housed in Cromwell’s old school, is dedicated to telling the story of his life and times, and making it relevant to contemporary visitors.
Spring was asked to help the museum examine and express its brand, and through that the brand of Cromwell himself, when the museum was in the process of moving away from its previous management by Cambridgeshire County Council. Becoming an independent organisation, run by a board of trustees, and self-funded, presented the museum with a set of strategic challenges, arriving at the same time as the museum was undergoing much-needed renovations.
We provided the rebrand strategy and out of that we created a new design approach for the museum. Our stripped-down, ‘puritan’ approach included a logo featuring Cromwell’s hat and the highly distinctive image of Cromwell’s quill-written signature: a mark of authenticity and of Cromwell’s personal approval. These key visual elements convey something of Cromwell’s character, as well invoking the aesthetics of the unique era of the English Civil War and the brief interregnum when England was ruled by the Lord Protector.
The look was followed through with a new website, as well as print and digital publicity materials, including simple but striking posters featuring Cromwell’s portrait, “…pimples, warts and everything”.




