Leading with the leopard: a new visual identity
Over seven centuries, the symbols in our Coat of Arms – the leopard, cup and buckles, demi-maiden, unicorn – have told the Goldsmiths’ Company’s origin story, evoking the craft and trade we were founded to champion and support.
As we approach our 700th anniversary, we have created a refreshed visual identity to convey the spirit of the Goldsmith’s Company and our craft and trade, drawing on our iconic heraldic symbols to celebrate passion and pride in our heritage, and ambition for the future.
Here’s our story of how we developed a new visual identity.
“As a company with deep roots in the past, we do meaningful work in the contemporary world. This is as rare as it is remarkable. Recognising this, it is essential that in honouring our past, we retain our relevance today. Our bold, new visual identity embodies the best of us – the spirit and essence of the Goldsmiths’ Company and the creative people that we have supported since the 14th century and still do today.”
Since our very beginning in the 14th century, the Goldsmiths’ Company has supported our craft and trade, assayed and hallmarked precious metals, and transformed life chances through philanthropic giving – it is why we were founded. Our origins are beautifully expressed through the heraldic symbols in our Coat of Arms, officially recognised in the 16th century.
The Goldsmiths’ Company Coat of Arms from 1891
The leopard’s head is the London town mark and the first British hallmark.
The covered cup between two buckles shows support for all goldsmiths, including makers of small wares (buckles) and large wares (cup).
The demi-maiden symbolises the work of the London Assay Office through the scales and touchstone she holds.
The unicorn symbolises purity, the quality determined by the assaying process.
These symbols of skill, craftmanship, creativity, care, quality and excellence have endured over seven centuries – something few British brands could claim.
2027 is our 700th anniversary. To celebrate our past and pave a path for our future, we collaborated with Steve Edge Design to craft a visual identity that builds on our legacy and brings to life the shared story of the Company, our charitable Foundation, the London Assay Office, and the craft and trade we champion. It is a brand that celebrates our history and cultural heritage, one that reflects who we are, what we do, and where we are today – a brand ready for the future.
Capturing our essence
To capture the essence of what makes the Goldsmiths’ Company unique, we spoke to members, staff, charity partners, collaborators, friends, and members of our craft and trade to hear their thoughts on what, visually, makes us unique, what they loved about the existing brand and what could be better.
We learnt about people’s passion and pride in the Company’s history and cultural heritage and their desire to celebrate and build on it. We were encouraged to evolve the brand to reflect the skill, creativity, beauty and awe embodied in the work created by goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellers. We also learnt that people wanted the visual identity to be more contemporary, playful, accessible and friendly.
Leading with the leopard
There was one leading character that dominated every discussion we had – an immediately recognised symbol that inspired a positive strength of feeling, pride, and fun. For those we spoke to, everyone loved the leopard!
The new leopard designed by Steve Edge Design in negative and positive
An iconic symbol representing the Goldsmiths’ Company, the leopard’s head is the London town mark and the first British hallmark. Known, early on, as the King’s mark, the leopard is a quality assurance mark, introduced in 1300 by King Edward I, to indicate the purity of items made of precious metal.
“no goldsmith… shall from henceforth make or cause to be made any manner of vessel, jewel or any other thing of gold or silver except it be of the true alloy […] and that no manner of vessel of silver depart out of the hands of the workers, until further, that it be marked with the leopard’s head”
The London town mark is still applied today to items made of precious metal by our team in the London Assay Office, headquartered at Goldsmiths’ Hall – fondly known as the ‘home of hallmarking’ because it was the site of the UK's first assay office and, hence, the origin of the term ‘hallmark’.
It felt only right to explore and build upon this legacy, and honour people’s fondness for the feline, by ‘leading with the leopard’ in our new brand designs. And so, it is the leopard’s head that is the new logo for the Goldsmiths’ Company and our family of brands – the London Assay Office, the Goldsmiths’ Foundation and the Goldsmiths’ Centre.
Richard Reid, Prime Warden (Chairman-equivalent) of the Goldsmiths’ Company, says: “The leopard’s head is a visual expression of our past, our present, and our future, and of the creative industry we champion and support. It is a timeless icon, interpreted in hundreds of ways by different craftspeople over the centuries. It felt only right to explore and build upon this legacy, by ‘leading with the leopard’ in our new brand designs.”
Leopard’s head located in the Staircase Hall of Goldsmiths’ Hall
The team at Steve Edge Design have thoughtfully recrafted the leopard head to create a more elegant, refined silhouette, reflecting the skill and finesse of the crafts of jewellery and silversmithing.
Steve Edge, Founder & Creative Director of Steve Edge Design, explains: “The leopard’s head embodies the brand story of the company – it is one of the treasures we uncovered during our time working with the Goldsmiths’ team. Our modified design introduces the idea of craftmanship. While there is visual symmetry, not all elements are identical, giving it a sense of something handmade. It’s a more friendly, approachable – dare I say playful – leopard that captures the imagination.”
A new graphic language
As part of the project, Steve Edge Design created a new graphic language for the Company. This includes a refined and updated Coat of Arms. Each of the components of the Coat of Arms that make up the Goldsmiths’ brand story has evolved, in harmony with the leopard’s head design.
Tom West, Senior Design Director for the project, says: “We evolved each design element of the Coat of Arms – the leopard’s head, the cup and buckles, demi-maiden and unicorn – to create an expressive, playful visual language.
“Each of these symbols can be used on their own, separate from the Coat of Arms, providing freedom of expression through silhouettes and graphic shapes. They can also be layered alongside the new, distinctive, brand colour combinations that we developed, inspired by the colours present in Goldsmiths’ Hall, from the carpets and furnishings to the sandstone and bricks on the Hall’s façade and the gilded Corinthian columns in its rooms.”
Evoking heritage and history
A key feature of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s new visual identity is its imaginative use of typefaces and fonts. Our chosen typeface, Romie, evokes our heritage and history, with flourishes reminiscent of those seen in hallmarks. “It has lovely glyphs that create small moments within it, like monograms and hallmarks, that allow us to have more expression and character in the letter forms”, Tom says.
Our new visual identity is beautiful, modern and distinctive and also honours and reflects the pride and passion in our company, its history and cultural heritage. It signals a moment of evolution for the Goldsmiths’ Company as we look ahead to the next 700 years.
Written by Sarah Jurado