Designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the late 17th Century, St Paul’s Cathedral is both a vibrant church where people meet and worship and one of London’s most popular visitor attractions. Its instantly recognisable dome has dominated the London skyline and from 1710 to 1963 it remained the tallest building in London. A symbol of resilience during the Blitz, St Paul's is known as ‘The People’s Cathedral‘ and has long played a central role in British public life.

​Shaping a sustainable home for learning, celebration, reflection and worship, after seeing its brand identities for The Book of Kells Experience and Jane Austen’s House, St Paul’s approached Pentagram to create a new visual identity to help it articulate its vision for the future: To inspire faith, welcome everyone and be a cathedral for London and the world.

​Working closely with the team at St Paul’s, Pentagram partnered with Bert Preece and Adam Kaveney of Simple Revolution to create a new strategy and verbal identity. At the heart of this lies the message that St Paul’s is for everyone, reframing the Cathedral as a place to step inside, pause and learn.

​The new visual identity centres around the St Paul‘s wordmark. The design process began with a deep dive into the Cathedral’s rich history, drawing inspiration from both above ground and beneath it. Letter engravings and carvings throughout the building and in the Crypt revealed historic references and typographic details that informed the new wordmark’s design.

The challenge was to design a logo that captured the character of St Paul‘s, while giving it a fresh, new visual identity. Working closely with the Cathedral’s stonemasons, the wordmark was explored to see how it could be translated into a tangible form, respecting the authenticity while allowing a modern wordmark to be realised with precision and craft. This collaboration and experimentation, combining contemporary design with historic craft skills, led to the final wordmark.

​The elevated ‘S’ and ‘T’ are a subtle nod to the building’s history, and are inspired by typographic details found in a book in the Cathedral’s Library. This unique detail reflects St Paul’s heritage while embodying its spirit of transformation and welcome. Crafted from characters within the wordmark, the accompanying monogram serves as a shorthand for the brand and creates an instantly recognisable mark.

​Selected for its unique blend of tradition and modernity, Dinamo’s Arizona Flare was chosen for the primary typeface. Its elegant, classic letterforms and subtle contemporary serif flares convey a sense of heritage while remaining fresh and versatile. A number of bespoke ligatures were created to complement the primary typeface, and Raleway was chosen for  the secondary typeface for use across all body copy and subheadings. 

​Capturing the richness and depth of its historic architecture, the colour palette draws inspiration from the Cathedral's interior, from the subtle tones of the floors and stone walls to the vibrant hues of the intricate ceiling mosaics.

​Photography captures the essence of the Cathedral, from the grandeur of its floors and soaring ceilings to the intimate, human moments that take place within its walls. Whether documenting events, architecture, or daily life, each photograph reflects the emotion, energy, and spirit of those who gather, work or worship in the Cathedral.

Pentagram Partner Domenic Lippa explains: “The ambition for us at Pentagram, the strategists and writers as well as the client themselves, was to create an identity that would be authentic, contemporary, flexible and dynamic; to be true for a unique building that exists so proudly in London, but also reflects many of the strengths of our country. I genuinely believe the building has a special personality, and we needed to try to capture this.

We hope we have created a fluid and flexible identity that will feel appropriate to the cathedral. But like the building itself, we hope it will surprise and delight the staff, volunteers, visitors and most importantly, worshippers.”

The result is a flexible identity that reflects both the history and evolving role of St Paul’s. Rooted in the building’s architecture, craft and community, Pentagram’s work brings together strategy, language and design to support the Cathedral’s vision for the future, welcoming people to experience this extraordinary place in new ways.