Belfast Central Business District

We successfully won the Belfast City Centre Management pitch to create a brand identity for the new Belfast Central Business District. Following the success of Belfast City Centre Management establishing Belfast One as Belfast’s first Business Improvement District (BID) on 1st of April 2016, Belfast Central Business District (BID) is now in development for the BT2 area of Central Belfast. This area of the city centre functions as Belfast’s ‘square mile’ with many large offices in the finance, technology, professional services and government sectors.  The area is also home to many reputable restaurants, historic bars, quality hotels and a range of independent retailers.

After a year of preparation Belfast Central Business District (Belfast CBD) has now reached the ballot phase. The publication of the final Business Plan for the business improvement district on the 14th of September formally launches the six week long campaign to secure a ‘yes’ result on 27th of October. The ballot involves over 420 votes from 350 businesses across 10 sectors. Businesses have an opportunity to secure an investment of over £2.4 million in a wide range of money-saving and promotional projects over a five-year period in the BT2 postcode area south of City Hall.

The identity and brand system that we created for the project brings to life the area involved in the Belfast Central Business District, visualising the footprint that it will have in the city in a contemporary, almost architectural way. The brand encompasses the area as well as the nature of the businesses and residence in the zone allocated to the BID. As you can see in the brand visuals the device is flexible when addressing different streets in the area, becoming the talking point for the likes of Adelaide Street or Linen hall Street. The colour palette is reflective of a forward thinking, corporate area in Belfast.

We needed to address and connect with the businesses and tenants that currently occupy the Belfast Central Business District, as they would be the ones ultimately sealing the fate of the Bid. We provided a trustworthy, corporate identity that the businesses could get on board with. The ownership comes from the craft of the ‘MAP’ logo to which the businesses can almost point out where they are located. The identity and type family used solidifies the positioning of the BID with a forward thinking approach and timeless brand direction. We used Omnes as the brand typeface, a soft, corporate face that has a big personality when used throughout brand collateral and business materials. As you will see on social media we created a series of props and point of sale items for Belfast Central business District, which really stood out from the crowd at the BID events.

The versatility of the device really comes in to play when housing the likes of ‘VOTE YES’ messages or “I’M IN” statements in their marketing collateral. The strong primary blue palate also helps marry the brand language with the visuals and mark helping the BID take ownership of the area in a contemporary fashion.

We are delighted to say that following the branding project and campaign the BID for the Belfast Central Business District was voted for and passed successfully. We can’t take full credit of course but the brand identity and vision from the offset was always on point with the ambition of the BID providing a solid path to success. We thoroughly enjoyed working on the branding for the Belfast Central Business District and look forward to working with them in the future as the BID formulates and is realised. Another successful corporate identity made for purpose in the KBE studios.