Gardiner Richardson Rebrands North East’s Biggest Cultural Organisation Ahead of Expansion

Newcastle-based strategic brand communications agency Gardiner Richardson has unveiled the new brand for the biggest North East cultural organisation.

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) became North East Museums in late 2024, a regional museum, art gallery and archives service that manages nine museums and galleries across Tyneside and the Archives for Tyne and Wear.

Keith Merrin, Director of North East Museums, said: “Our new name and identity created with the team at Gardiner Richardson puts us in a fantastic position as our organisation grows into Northumberland managing three additional venues from 1 April.

“Our new brand was front and centre for our campaign to drive visitor numbers for February half term across our venues, and we’ve seen a real boost to footfall and interest in our organisation.”

The rebrand is the result of months of work including meeting with visitors, employees and the wider community to ensure the new brand would be authentic to the people at the heart of the organisation.

Gardiner Richardson developed brand positioning, identity and a social media campaign for North East Museums.

Darren Richardson, founder of Gardiner Richardson, said: “We engaged with the staff, partners and visitors in a fun consultation process, which informed the ‘we move you’ brand position. The name was a clear choice – easy to understand, readily searched for online and appropriate for their wider geographical reach.

“Stories from the heart’ was the inspiration for our design system. Flexible yet distinctive, the system is designed to work with the diverse range of content created by the museums, galleries and archives.”

Already the largest museum sector Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in the country in terms of funding it brings to the region, North East Museums will manage a total of 12 venues, as well as looking after the archives for Tyne and Wear and running arts and cultural projects across the region.

The Museums partnership now also includes the local authorities of Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, North and South Tyneside councils and Newcastle University.

Venues include Arbeia in South Shields, Discovery Museum, Great North Museum: Hancock; Hatton Gallery in Newcastle, Hexham Old Gaol, Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum and Woodhorn Museum in Northumberland, Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend, Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead, South Shields Museum and Art Gallery, Stephenson Steam Railway in North Shields, and Tyne & Wear Archives.

Find out more about North East Museums here.

Learn more about Gardiner Richardson here.