CASE STUDY

St Helena Island

Designing an island’s identity — and helping it tell its stories

THE CLIENT

St Helena is a remote British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, distinguished by its dramatic landscape, extraordinary biodiversity and complex global history. Our relationship began when Zuluspice won a competitive tender submitted at the end of 2019 to refresh the island’s tourism identity. The project was awarded in January 2020 and included a visit to St Helena the following month, allowing us to experience the island’s landscape, community and character first-hand. What began as a tourism rebrand grew into a long-term relationship with St Helena Tourism and the St Helena Government, encompassing destination marketing, public-history projects, government communications, and permanent interpretative installations.

The evolution of the old St Helena Island logo from the early 2000s to 2020.

THE CHALLENGE

The tourism identity had passed through several iterations but remained largely dependent on the island’s outline and an inconsistent mix of typefaces, colours, and graphic treatments. It identified St Helena geographically but didn’t fully express the richness of the destination. The island needed an identity that could communicate much more: its landscapes and marine environment, wildlife, history, adventure, remoteness and community. It also needed a coherent system that could be applied across international advertising, visitor information, digital communications and printed collateral. As the relationship developed, the challenge became broader. Each subsequent project addressed a different communication problem: interpreting a difficult and neglected history, creating usable standards for an entire government, and turning the island’s unusually rich historical connections into a permanent public installation.

The tourism identity's evolution over several iterations

OUR THINKING

We did not discard the island outline, which had accumulated recognition through earlier identities. Instead, we transformed what it communicated. The outline became a frame containing sea, coastline, hills and sun: a compact visual expression of the diversity found within this small, remote place. The colour palette came from St Helena’s actual terrain and surrounding waters, grounding the identity in the island’s character rather than generic tropical-destination imagery. This principle continued through the later projects. Each required its own visual language, but all followed the same approach: understand the context, identify what is distinctive, organise complex information, and create a system others can use consistently.

The new St Helena Island logo and branding.

THE RESPONSE

St Helena Tourism

We created a new destination identity, colour palette, typography, iconography, photographic guidance and flexible layout system. We formalised this in a comprehensive set of visual identity guidelines and applied it across advertising, brochures, banners, social media, visitor information, and maps. The original “Secret of the South Atlantic” positioning has since evolved into “A Breath of Fresh Air,” while the central visual identity has remained adaptable and recognisable. In 2026, the updated destination logo was formally registered in the UK and St Helena.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Memorial

We subsequently developed the identity and six interpretation panels for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Memorial in Rupert’s Valley, telling the story of the Liberated Africans’ Depot, burial grounds, reburial site and memorial project. The visual language draws on cowrie shells, beads and grave goods associated with the people buried at the site. Individual forms and colours create a sense of distinct lives brought together, while maps, archival images, archaeological material and historical texts guide visitors through the landscape and its history. The work required a careful balance between accessibility, historical evidence and the dignity appropriate to a site of remembrance. The identity guidelines and interpretation panels were incorporated into the memorial master plan formally adopted by St Helena Government.

St Helena Government

Our work later extended to creating a government-wide Brand Guidelines Rulebook and companion Writing Style Guide. Rather than redesigning the official coat of arms, we developed a practical system around the corrected heraldic version supplied by the College of Arms. The 62-page rulebook established consistent standards for logo use, colour, typography, photography, infographics, layouts and partnerships. It also provided templates and guidance for stationery, presentations, job vacancies, public announcements, press releases, newsletters, advertising, signage, lanyards, name badges, business cards and email signatures. Because much of the Government’s communication is produced internally, the system had to be usable by employees without professional design experience. It therefore combines clear rules with sufficient flexibility to support everyday communication across multiple portfolios and formats. The Writing Style Guide extended the same principles of clarity and accessibility into written language.

A Walk Through History

Most recently, we created the artwork for A Walk Through History, a permanent installation along Castle Terrace in Jamestown. The initial installation comprises 28 illuminated slate plaques commemorating notable figures who visited or became connected with St Helena. Varied historical photographs, paintings and source material were translated into a consistent, high-contrast visual style suitable for engraving into slate. The subjects range from Napoleon and Chief Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo to members of the Royal Family and Jonathan, the world’s oldest known living terrestrial animal. Plaques depicting Royal Family members required additional textual and representational approval from the Royal Household. Installed chronologically along the historic terrace, the plaques create an accessible public narrative while helping to regenerate an underused area, connect nearby visitor attractions and encourage residents and tourists to move through the space.

A Walk Through History, before and after installation.

THE RESULT

A single tourism commission developed into a sustained creative relationship spanning more than six years. The tourism identity remains in use and has accommodated a new strategic tagline. The memorial work became part of an officially adopted plan for interpreting one of the island’s most important and sensitive historical sites. The Government rulebook provides an operational framework for consistent public communication, while A Walk Through History has transformed our artwork into a permanent feature of Jamestown’s public environment. Together, the projects demonstrate more than visual design. They show how strategic thinking, research, information design, stakeholder management and long-term creative support can help a place define its identity, communicate with clarity and give physical form to its stories.