Founded in 1963, the American Library (formerly known as the 2nd Air Division Library) is an institution established to honor the US Air Force troops who fought in Europe during WWII. Located in Norwich, UK, the library contains a collection of materials dedicated to the USAF, American relationship with Britain and American culture in general.
Adopting its current name, the American Library was looking to a new visual identity as well. The institution’s brand, including a logo, printed materials and some merchandise, was renovated by The Click, a Norwich-based design studio. In the brand creation, the designers started from the library’s name itself, trying to represent the whole collection of the American Library which deals not only with WWII, but also with the United States as a country.
While the library’s previous emblem was looking like a seal featuring an Air Force symbolism with wings and a star, the new logo reflects the idea of America’s storytelling, representing a combination of a book and the American flag patterns. Although the red-white-blue palette of the American flag was initially considered for the logo, the designing team decided to keep on upholding the principles of simplicity, using white and red colors only as the stripes and square in the corner themselves are a clear reference to the iconic US banner, as The Click’s creative director Bobby Burrage says.
The stripe design was also used for other materials like books or brochures and even for the wayfinding arrows in the library’s halls and corridors. And the American Library will welcome visitors in its facelifted building after the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions are removed.
