Holkham

History in the making.

Holkham is a 25,000 acre rural estate and has been home to the Coke family since the early 17th century. Since then, Holkham has been paving the way in agriculture and is now a thriving estate under the eighth Earl, with diverse businesses including farming, tourism and property.

Holkham’s team of experts in conservation, farming, forestry and gamekeeping work together for future generations of flora, fauna and humankind. They are custodians of historic buildings, the creators of communities and supporters of rural business and enterprise.

The inspiration

With such a rich and established history spanning more than 250 years, it would be easy to visit Holkham and lose yourself in the past, however, there is a clear sense of tomorrow being more important to them. Their bold ambition is to be the UK’s most pioneering and sustainable rural estate.

The idea

We created an identity system that reflects Holkham’s history and heritage together with its pioneering present day. The brand logotype subtly combines two typefaces – the first being Baskerville which was designed in the 1750s – at the same time as Holkham Hall was being built. This is paired seamlessly with, Sora, a contemporary counterpart designed for today’s digital world.

The logotype can also sit at the heart of brand messaging and is the intersection between the two parts of the statement and the two typefaces. This typographic treatment is applied across a wide variety of campaign material, signage, social media and merchandising.

This is Holkham – where history is in the making.

The copy-led approach is complemented by a newly commissioned illustration style which draws influence from historic etchings, carefully balanced with a contemporary and informal drawing style. These illustrations are always applied in black on to colour.

The brand colour palette is influenced by Holkham’s environment – the land, sea, beach, woodlands and the sandstone of the hall.

We established a new brand architecture for the 47 entities of the wider Holkham business. This included a suite of Holkham-led sub brands coupled with a range of standalone identities such as The Victoria, a restaurant with rooms.

We developed a monogram version of the logotype which combines both typefaces in to a single letter. This is used across packaging, uniform and merchandise.