Signal.

Signal Film and Media were updating their home, Cooke’s Studios, as part of a £1m refurbishment of the historic building. The project marked a significant shift in how the space would be used and who it was for. When we were brought in, the brief was to help signal those changes clearly to audiences and to reflect how Signal’s work had evolved after more than twenty years.

Over time, the organisation’s offer had become blurred. Cooke’s Studios carried strong local recognition, but the building name was overshadowing Signal itself and obscuring the breadth, ambition and quality of what happened inside. Clarifying that offer, and establishing Signal as the lead brand rather than the building, was essential.

We began with a full strategic phase, including stakeholder interviews, sector and competitor analysis, audience insight and a detailed audit of Signal’s communications and digital presence. That work revealed a clear tension at the heart of the organisation. Signal delivers work of genuinely high creative quality, often unexpected in a town like Barrow, while remaining radically open and rooted in its community. Very few organisations manage both.

That balance became the basis of the brand position. Out of the ordinary was defined as a strategic lens, not a tagline. It articulated Signal’s role in making serious, ambitious creative work accessible without lowering standards, and in opening pathways into creative futures that are often closed off in working class towns.

From that position, we developed a confident visual identity and a clear communications architecture, bringing structure and consistency across exhibitions, learning programmes, heritage projects and everyday messaging. This created a system that could flex across different audiences and contexts while always reinforcing Signal’s purpose and values.
In parallel, we designed and delivered a comprehensive wayfinding system for the renewed building. The signage uses a simple dot motif to create clarity, visibility and rhythm throughout the space, helping visitors navigate the building while reinforcing Signal’s presence rather than competing with it.

The outcome is a joined up strategy, identity and environment that clearly communicates what Signal is today. A creative organisation with high standards and low barriers, rooted in Barrow, relevant far beyond it, and confidently out of the ordinary.