National Museums Liverpool

Haydn was asked by International Slavery Museum, Museum of Liverpool, and Merseyside Maritime Museum to create a visual identity for their up-and-coming exhibition, ‘The Sankofa: Connections and Collections’. ‘Sankofa’ is a word derived from Akan language of Ghana, translating as ‘reach back and get it’. This exhibition looked at the Transatlantic Slavery and its legacies and Black Social History / Black Diaspora.

Working in unison with the client, the brief asked Haydn to create a powerful design that brings the community together; to preserve and history for future generations. Similar to all of Haydn’s commissions, he researched this topic thoroughly, to get to the heart of the subject and create a compelling design. Working from his sketchbook and layout paper, Haydn explored different Akan symbols that he could integrate into the typography, and explored different colours inspired by this part of the world.

A clean design was chosen, with black, red, and green at the heart of the design. The typography also incorporates an Akan symbol in the centre of the letter ‘O’. This visual identity design appeared throughout the Museum’s marketing materials – including their website and social media platforms.