Staying curious, keeping it Hull
Humber Street Gallery is a contemporary art space based in Hull – a place where new ideas, unexpected moments and everyday conversations all sit side by side. Osch worked with the team to refresh their brand and redesign their website to create a clearer, more welcoming expression of who they are and how they want people to feel when they walk through the door.
The team: Lexi Bierman, designer; Chris Butterworth, web development; Chloë Roach, strategy direction; Oscar Park, design direction.
“We needed something confident and authoritative, but not alienating, and rooted in Hull without becoming patronising. Osch guided this process thoughtfully and successfully. We are extremely pleased with the results and with the experience of working with them.”
Matt Walton, Partnership & Communications Manager
Finding the gallery’s voice
The refreshed brand gives Humber Street Gallery a coherent way to express its character — inquisitive, playful and shaped by Hull. It also brings different strands of the gallery’s work together under one voice, from exhibitions and events to the café, weddings and community programmes. With Stay curious as a flexible motto and a tone of voice that’s conversational, plain-speaking and grounded, the gallery can communicate in a way that’s open, encouraging and distinctive.
We needed a visual identity and website that would feel open and accessible to casual visitors, but still work for a contemporary gallery and allow people to engage at different depths. Osch handled that balance with real care, creating a site that’s inviting, flexible, and works for a wide range of audiences without compromise.
Matt Walton, Partnership & Communications Manager
A fixed, flexible and free brand
The refreshed identity gives Humber Street Gallery a framework that’s steady enough to feel recognisable, but loose enough to adapt across their diverse range of exhibitions, events and promotional materials. A grid system drawn from the gallery’s architecture, along with a distinctive palette and clear tone of voice, provide consistency across print and digital. Within this system, Stay curious sits as a fixed part of the brand, with space for other short prompts – such as ‘Play’ or ‘Explore’ – to appear alongside it, giving the gallery the flexibility to tailor the message to their audiences.
Bringing the HSG experience online
The redesigned website reflects the feeling of stepping into Humber Street Gallery: open, easy to navigate and free of unnecessary barriers. A structure guided by the building’s industrial grid brings all parts of the programme together, while the plain-speaking tone of voice guides visitors without overwhelming them. From the earliest decisions to the final build, sustainability shaped the approach, resulting in a lighter, cleaner and more environmentally responsible site.
