Royal Armouries
A campaign fit for the arena.
The world of museums is full of spectacle, but few shows carry the weight and drama of ancient Rome. Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum - a major international exhibition developed with the Colosseum in Rome and the Archaeological Museum of Naples - needed a campaign as powerful as the story it tells.
Our idea was to make people feel the truth in these distant, historic stories by lifting out the real names and the real dramas that took place thousands of years ago – this show brings home the moment when ordinary people became heroes of the Colosseum. We helped the Royal Armouries talk to a wider audience, shifting from specialist storytelling to something more cinematic and accessible while keeping its authority intact.
The visual world we created was about balancing scale with history – a show identity that referenced all the very real artefacts within, combined with a graphic style that feels almost cinematic. Paying attention to typography, colour, and language to push the central ideas in the show, complete with a show date of 'Jun–Nov 2025 AD'.
