How do you evolve an identity without losing its soul? For London-based studio Rose, the challenge of rebranding The Royal Parks—one of the world’s most treasured public green spaces—was as nuanced as the parks themselves. Known for their deep expertise in brand evolution, Rose brought strategic clarity, design elegance, and a warm visual vernacular that transformed perceptions of the 500-year-old institution from austere and elitist to inclusive, engaging, and emotionally resonant. The result is a brand identity that not only enhances public connection, but also powers real-world impact across visitor engagement and charitable growth.

By: Simon Elliott & Garry Blackburn, Creative Directors, Rose

The Royal Parks brand identity evolution

Client
The Royal Parks is the charity dedicated to caring for the most famous collection of urban parks in the world. They provide free access to London’s beautiful, natural and historic green spaces, to help improve everyone’s quality of life and wellbeing by protecting and sustainably managing 5,000 acres of diverse parkland. But as a charity they have to do all this from the funds they raise.

Brief
Research suggested many audiences perceived The Royal Parks as being elitist, over authoritarian, or not necessarily for everyone to enjoy. The Royal Parks wanted to help evolve their brand, to increase public awareness of their charitable status, create a warmer and more inviting brand experience, and provide more opportunities for the organisation to move into new areas to raise funding.

Solution
Rose evolved The Royal Parks brand strategy and positioning, to help the organisation improve its connection with visitors and encourage new audiences to feel welcome within the parks. Rose also simplified and streamlined the brand architecture to build greater brand recognition of The Royal Parks brand. From the refreshed brand strategy, Rose created The Royal Parks brand identity, evolving and improving the elements to create a timeless, practical solution that is now fit for purpose across digital and mobile applications.

To improve legibility and become more friendly, Rose designed The Royal Parks signage to be simpler and more practical, using colours that stand out against the natural palette of greens within the parks, with black information to aid visibility and accessibility. On completion of the evolved brand identity, Rose created The Royal Parks brand guidelines and templates for the internal team and external design agencies to use and follow for all on-going implementation of the brand across the many different areas of the organisation.

About Rose

Rose has a proven track record of delivering commercial success for our clients over more than 25 years. We have helped hundreds of organisations – from owner-managed businesses, to conglomerates with more than 100 offices around the world – successfully evolve, refresh or reposition their brands within their sectors, to achieve greater growth and recognition. Rose specialise in connecting clients with their desired audiences by creating, evolving and repositioning world class brands. Our work has been globally recognised by more than 200 major international creative awards and industry accolades.

The value to clients doesn’t just come from the beautiful, timeless, multi-award-winning work we produce for them (although we pride ourselves on the world-renowned quality of our design). It comes from our expertise and experience in knowing how to solve complex business problems successfully, repositioning organisations with brand solutions that stand the test of time. In doing so, Rose’s tried and tested approach enables our clients to build their brands by creating a stronger connection with their desired audiences and customers, making a significant return on their investment as a result.