The Royal Society of Edinburgh
Branding, Print & Signage
see the world through the rse
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) was founded in 1783 by Royal Charter, and continues to operate today as an independent, non-party political organisation providing public benefit throughout Scotland.
With a current Fellowship of over 1,500, the Society covers the full spectrum of academic disciplines – life sciences, physical sciences, arts, humanities & social science and business & public service. This breadth of expertise makes it unique in the UK.
To flourish and remain relevant in a fast changing world the RSE decided to undertake a strategic review. That process included reviewing and establishing a new brand identity and strap-line. The main challenge in designing a brand identity for the RSE was communicating the breadth of its expertise; a design solution which highlighted its scientific pedigree also needed to reflect its ties with the arts and business. The solution was to use the idea of “Seeing the world through the RSE”. Images from the 4 key academic disciplines appear within specially created bold RSE letterforms, and the typography of the logotype and strap-line harks back to internationally recognised “Scotch Roman” fonts that were cut by Edinburgh type foundries in the early 19th Century.
The launch of the new identity coincided with the publication of the RSE’s Strategic Framework for 2016-2021 and the creation of a new RSE website in October 2016.
