Situated in Manhattan, New York City, the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine holds the title of the world’s largest Gothic Cathedral and one of the world’s largest church buildings in terms of length and internal volume.

It surely also holds the title of one of the most modern in terms of branding, having established a strong design footprint with its past agency partner, Pentagram. Since changing to another local agency, Selman, the cathedral is continuing to build on that design legacy, as seen in its newly evolved identity design.

The wordmark, created in collaboration with type foundry Frere-Jones Type, features subtle flares that help it feel elegant yet friendly. While it has something of a Heinz air about it, the letterforms are based directly on bronze lettering found in the cathedral’s physical space, paying homage to the historic building.

The existing Gothic typeface has been maintained, but it’s now joined by a new typeface based on archival printings of The Book of Common Prayer, which the team introduced to bring flexibility to digital touchpoints.

Graphic framing devices come in the form of intricate block shapes inspired by environmental details found throughout the cathedral, from stained glass windows to wood and stone carvings, which have also fed into the palettes. These are joined by a set of motifs referring to religious iconography, including doves, candles, and religious texts.

St John the Divine has long been championing a contemporary design approach, pre-empting a wave of faith institutions rethinking their branding in recent years.

selman.nyc